Defending champion Rohan Bopanna gets wildcard entry to Tata Open Maharashtra

Indian tennis ace, Rohan Bopanna and partner, Arjun Kadhe were given a wildcard entry in the men’s doubles event at the Tata Open Maharashtra on Friday.

Arjun Kadhe has also been handed a wildcard entry into the singles event along with another Indian youngster, Sasikumar Mukund.

Rohan Bopanna, ranked 38 in the world in doubles, won the title last year partnering fellow Indian, Divij Sharan.

However, the latter will play this edition with Kiwi Artem Sitak, with the duo already having a direct entry to the ATP 250 event.

The 39-year-old Rohan Bopanna has had a decent run coming into the tournament, winning the Qatar Open partnering Dutchman Wesley Koolhof and then made it to the quarter-finals of the Auckland Open alongside Henri Kontinen of Finland.

Bopanna had paired up with the returning Sania Mirza for the Australian Open but after the latter pulled out due to a calf injury, he teamed up with Ukraine’s Nadiia Kichenok.

The duo were given a bye in the first round and then won their next two matches before bowing out at the quarter-final stage, losing in straight sets to fifth seeds, Nikola Mektic and Barbora Krejcikova.

Five Indians feature in the main draw

As many as five Indian players will be seen in action in the singles main draw at the Tata Open Maharashtra, the first time it has happened in the history of the tournament.

While Arjun Kadhe and Sasikumar Mukund got late entries as wildcards, the event will also see Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Sumit Nagal, and Ramkumar Ramanathan, the latter also coming through as a wildcard.

The winner will win a prize money of $546,355, the highest in the tournament’s history. Shot clocks will also be introduced for the first time at the ATP 250 event, which will allow a maximum limit of 25 seconds between points for each player.