Maharashtra Open tennis: India’s Rohan Bopanna, US Open champions in doubles entry list

Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna will partner Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp in the doubles competition of the Maharashtra Open 2023, which starts in Pune on December 31. 

Rohan Bopanna is India’s top-ranked doubles player at world No. 19. Botic van de Zandschulp, meanwhile, is world No. 35 in the ATP Rankings for singles. 

The duo will enter the Maharashtra Open, South Asia’s only ATP 250 tennis tournament, as second-seeds behind two-time US Open champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury. 

Last year, Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan came from a set down against top seeds Luke Saville and John-Patrick Smith of Australia to win the Maharashtra Open 2022 doubles title. However, the two Indian players have teamed up with different partners for this edition.

Ramkumar Ramanathan will be joining forces with Mexico’s Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela for the tournament.

Top seeds Rajeev Ram of the USA and Joe Salisbury of the United Kingdom made the cut for the Maharashtra Open with a combined team ranking of seven. 

The American-British pair successfully defended their US Open title and also bagged two ATP Masters 1000 titles earlier this year. They capped off 2022 by clinching the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin.

Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow are among other notable foreign players who have received direct entries in doubles at the Maharashtra Open 2023. The American pair recently won their first ATP Tour doubles title together at the 2022 Southern California Open in San Diego.

The French duo of Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul, former world No. 24 Sander Gille and former world No. 28 Joran Vliegen are also in the fray.

Saketh Myneni and Yuki Bhambri will feature in the doubles draw together. The Indian pair won six titles on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2022.

The 16-team doubles draw will have two wild card entries, which are yet to be announced.

Former US Open tennis champion Marin Cilic of Croatia will headline a strong singles field at the Maharashtra Open.

The Maharashtra Open 2023, the fifth edition of the tennis tournament, will conclude on January 7.