Maharashtra Open tennis: Former US Open champion Marin Cilic top draw
Six players in the top 50 of the ATP Rankings will play in Pune from December 31. The ATP 250 event will run till January 7.
Former US Open tennis champion Marin Cilic of Croatia will headline a strong singles field at the Maharashtra Open to be played at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune from December 31 to January 7.
The qualifying event for the Maharashtra Open will begin on December 31 with the main draw getting underway on January 2. The event will also host a doubles competition. The Maharashtra Open is South Asia’s only ATP 250 tennis event.
The 34-year-old Croatian Marin Cilic, a 2017 Wimbledon finalist who also made it to the Australian Open final in 2018, won back-to-back Maharashtra Open titles in 2009 and 2010.
Apart from world No. 17 Marin Cilic, the fifth edition of the Maharashtra Open tennis will see 16 other top-100 players in action at Pune. The cut-off ranking for the competition is 115 for direct entry in singles.
Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp (world No. 35), Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori (world No. 40), Argentine Sebastian Baez (world No. 43), USA’s Jenson Brooksby (world No. 48) and Slovakia’s Alex Molcan (world No. 50) are among the six singles players ranked inside the top-50 of the ATP Rankings who will compete at the Maharashtra Open.
The last two editions of the tournament were held in the first week of February. However, the latest edition will be held in December-January as the Australian Open Grand Slam starts on January 16.
Portugal’s Joao Sousa won the singles title last year while the Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan are defending champions in the doubles.