Young Indian brigade to strive for success at Chennai Open

India's top singles players, led by number one Saketh Myneni, would look to better their record at big events when they brush shoulders with some of the best in the business, including world number six Marin Cilic, at the ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament, beginning here tomorrow.
Despite not having three-time winner Stanislas Wawrinka, it's a rich field which will feature six top-50 players in the singles draw, including Cilic, who had a great 2016, his country-mate and last year's finalist Borna Coric, Spaniards Roberta Bautista Agut and Albert Ramos-Vinolas. The onus is on the Indians to make their presence felt.

It has been a while that both Myneni and local boy Ramkumar Ramanathan have been striving to make an impression on the Tour but mostly they have competed at the Challenger level.
Both have been given wild card entries into the main draw and they need to make it count. This is the only ATP 250 event that India has and the country has already lost many Challengers last year.
29-year-old Myneni did make progress last year when he qualified for the US Open but he needs to find a way to manage his fitness and consistently play at the ATP 250 level.

It's easier said than done but athletes who have insatiable hunger for success do reach there and fight hard to stay there.

Myneni is pitted against seasoned Russian Mikhail Youzhny, world number 57, and the Indian needs to be at his best to get past him.
Ramkumar has shown promise from his early days and has enjoyed a few memorable wins but lacks consistency. He has the serve and ground strokes but needs to compliment his game with mental strength and strong legs. The Chennai boy does not know his opponent as yet as he is drawn to meet a qualifier in his opening round.

Yuki Bhambri endured a tough 2015 season, missing six months due to tennis elbow injury and eventually dropped out of top-100. He is languishing now in 500s and would hope that he remains injury free in 2017. He is one win away from making the main draw of Chennai Open after winning his first round yesterday as a wild card.
(REOPENS DEL15)
In the absence of Wawrinka, who decided to give the India event a miss after winning three consecutive titles here from 2013-15, Cilic, from Croatia, headlines the international field.
The tall Croat would look to carry forward his stunning success in 2016, during which he beat Novak Djokovic at the Paris Masters. This was after he won his first ever Masters title in Cincinnati where he downed Andy Murray in the final and ended the season with his career-best rank of six.

Having a player of his ability, who has challenged the 'Big Four' of the tennis world, is good for India's only ATP 250 event and fans also will get to see a world class player in action live.
Cilic, who has triumphed here twice (2009, 2010), will certainly be the favourite to lift the title.
Bautista Agut, world number 14, too had very productive 2016 as he won two ATP titles and also boasted of a win over Serbian great Djokovic.
Coric has taken decent strides after turning professional late in 2013 and the 20-year-old Croat would look to start the new season with a strong show in Chennai.

India have a strong presence in the doubles field with as many as four pairs, apart from legendary Leander Paes, who has paired with Andre Sa from Brazil.
The veteran Indian has compatriots Divij Sharan and Purav Raja to deal with in the opening round.
Raja and Sharan, who had a great 2016, will pose a very strong challenge to all teams. It is their chance to grab their third ATP career title at a home event. They won Los Cabos last year and Bogota in 2013.
Rohan Bopanna, axed from the Indian Davis Cup team, has teamed up with local boy Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan.

Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan have been given wild card entry into doubles as a team. The other wild card has been given to the pair of N Sriram Balaji and national champion Vishnu Vardhan.