Maharashtra Open tennis: Yuki Bhambri to start from qualifiers in men’s singles
The Indian tennis player will enter the tournament on his protective ranking of 127.
Former junior Australian Open champion Yuki Bhambri will start the singles event at the Maharashtra Open 2023 ATP 250 tennis tournament from the qualifiers, which gets underway on December 31, at Balewadi Stadium in Pune.
The qualifying event will see 16 players, including two wild card entrants, fighting for four places in the main draw.
Last edition’s semi-finalist Elias Ymer of Sweden and world No. 39 Peter Gojowczyk from Germany will also begin from qualifiers.
Yuki Bhambri is currently ranked 555 in ATP Rankings while the cut-off for the qualifiers at Maharashtra Open is 243. However, the former world No. 83 made the cut through his protective ranking of 127 - a provision for ranked players making a comeback after a minimum of six months of injury.
Yuki Bhambri was out of action for two years due to injury after competing at the US Open in 2018. Bhambri, a former junior world No. 1, will look for a good start to 2023 having failed to go past the round of 16 in 2022.
Bhambri contested in seven ATP events this year and his biggest win was over world No. 82 Joao Sousa of Portugal at the Dubai Tennis Championships. Joao Sousa also won the Maharashtra Open 2022.
At the last edition of the Maharashtra Open, Bhambri defeated Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia in the first round but was knocked out by Stefano Travaglia in the round of 16.
Maharashtra Open is South Asia’s only premiere ATP Tour event and this year’s event will be the tournament’s fifth edition. It will conclude on January 7.