A dream run

The Chennai Open is among the most anticipated ATP events of the year. here’s how an Indian city placed itself on the tennis map.

In the 1990s, if someone had suggested that an Indian city would play host to an international tennis event in the near future, the thought would have been brushed aside as absurd. Despite producing tennis players who did leave a mark on the international scene, India was never considered a sporting destination. But the Chennai Open has defied all the odds, and is on the verge of completing its 14th edition. Over the years it has become a hotspot for the sport. Be it on account of the players and sponsors, or even the spectators, India’s premier tennis event has played a major role in increasing the popularity of the sport — coupled, of course, with other factors like the emergence of Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman.

For Mahesh Bhupathi, India’s finest doubles player, the Chennai Open will always be close to his heart, as that was where he won his first ever doubles title. Bhupathi is pleased that Chennai has become a talking point among players on the ATP Tour. “In the early season calendar it is one event that players look forward to the most,” he says.

That claim is backed by the impressive line-up of players who have come to Chennai over the years. Rafael Nadal, Patrick Rafter, Xavier Malisse and Carlos Moya are some of the top-10 players to have played in the tournament.

Vijay Amritraj, the former Davis Cup captain and renowned commentator, feels that Chennai has become the place to be. “When top-ranked players come for an event regularly, it grabs attention,” he says. Gradually, over the years, this has happened with the Chennai Open.

Chennai’s rise wasn’t rapid. Getting players in the early years of the Chennai Open was an uphill task. No one knows this better than K P Chidambaram, the chairman of the organising committee. “The first five years, we took time to find our feet, and it was a bit difficult to get the sponsors as well as players,” he recalls. But the last five years have been more than Chidambaram would have hoped for. He has seen the prize money go up, support from the corporate world has never been this good, most matches are sold out.

Chidambaram says that while even in the early years they had one marquee player, the rest of the field was not high-profile enough. It was a coup to get former world number one Rafter to Chennai, he says, but it still wasn’t enough. “We needed a field of players which attracted both spectators as well as sponsors,” he says. And that is one of several factors he thinks have helped Chennai to become an important tennis destination.

The title sponsorship has changed hands over the years from Tata to ITC to Kingfisher, which shows that it’s not only cricket which can attract big names in the country. The prize money, which is now close to $450,000, has also swelled over the years.

According to Ravi Krishnan, managing director of IMG South Asia, the corporate support has been very generous. He recalls 2006, when there were as many as 27 sponsors for the Chennai Open. This year, Aircel is the title sponsor, while the likes of Indian Bank, Kingfisher, the Murugappa Group, Larsen & Toubro, Pepsi and Volvo are partnering the event as well. “It shows that if an event is organised on the right scale and approached in the right manner, sponsors are always available,” says Krishnan.

Bhupathi feels some of the credit for the tournament’s success is owed to the impressive line-up of players. “It’s the players that are the biggest draw for spectators.” For instance, this year, Robin Soderling and Stan Wawrinka are the main draws, along with Devvarman. While Soderling and Devvarman crashed out early, that hasn’t deterred the crowd.

In 2009, when Devvarman had a fairytale run till the finals, Chidambaram says there was overwhelming response. Bhupathi, along with fellow Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna, are still in the doubles’ draw and would like to make amends on Devvarman’s behalf.

Krishnan says that for IMG, the Chennai Open is one of the most important events in their calendar. And the event has been appreciated by the ATP as well. In 2006, for instance, the Chennai Open won the ATP’s Player Services Award for Excellence, and two years later got the Best Marketing Award as well.

Even so, attaining the elite Masters’ series tag is a distant dream. If you do tell someone that it might happen, chances are you will be laughed at. But by now we should know that distant dreams can come true in Chennai, as far as tennis is concerned.