Chennai Open shifted to Pune

Mumbai, July 20 

India’s lone ATP tournament, the Chennai Open, will now be held in Pune from next year and would be henceforth called the Maharashtra Open. IMG-Reliance, the right holders of the tournament, the Maharashtra government and the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) announced this here today.

“We welcome the world class ATP tournament to our state,” said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. “We are happy to host the Maharashtra Open and are sure that we will take it to new heights.” 

The Chennai Open had become an important fixture in India’s international sporting calendar, drawing top players, including  14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka, over the last 21 years. Even Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi forged their formidable partnership at the Chennai Open before they went on to conquer the world.

“We would like to thank everyone in Tamil Nadu, especially our innumerable fans, for making the Chennai Open such a grand success,” IMG-Reliance’s spokesperson said. “We look forward to similar love from tennis fans not just in Pune and Maharashtra but in every part of the country,” the spokesperson said. — PTI

Players have mixed feelings 

Sorry to hear that Chennai won’t be the venue for the only ATP tournament in India but glad at least it didn’t leave the country. — Saketh Myneni

It was my first ATP tour event in my career and my home event as well. Of course it’s a big disappointment that the tournament has been taken away from Chennai. It has been there for 21 years. Pune is a nice city too. I loved playing there but it had become a tradition to have the ATP event in Chennai. — N Sriram Balaji