The global appeal of the Chennai Open

When its 20th edition is held at the Nungambakkam Stadium from January 4, 2016 for the most prestigious week in a tennis calendar, the Open would go down in the history of Indian sporting events as the most valuable tournament. There are very few tournaments in India that attracted global presence and ironically they were buried in the past. 

In hockey, the Aga Khan and Gold Cup hockey tournaments in Mumbai were brands that went well with India’s national game; they were held for a good number of years with participation from Pakistani teams, mainly their airline line up (PIA). However, they have been done and dusted. 

But what differentiates the Chennai Open from the other sporting events in India is its global appeal.  For a country that has a rich tradition in tennis with the Krishnans, Amritrajs, Leanders, Bhupathis and Sanias, the Open was a godsend. It has managed to attract big names, though Doha and Brisbane hold tournaments of the same strength in the same week. If those big names over the years included a certain Rafael Nadal and Patrik Rafter it was not by design, but only by chance and probably because of the exceptional organizational skills of the Indian tournament. 

How else would we describe twice Grand Slam champion and World No 4 Stan Wawrinka’s continued presence in a field that may not appeal to celebrity players? The Swiss won a Grand Slam last year and he is here for the eighth time; he was champion of Chennai for the last two years and so naturally he will be out to do what only an Indian pair (Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi in doubles) hase done in the past, to complete a hat-trick of titles. 

Rafael Nadal came here before he became a star and Boris Becker was here in the initial period of the Open when he was past his prime; yet, both are names that gave the much-needed impetus to the tournament. 

Nadal had even gone on record saying he was truly impressed by the knowledge and enthusiasm of the Chennai crowd. But these are pieces of history of the tournament and in this context the gestures of Wawrinka and Rafter assume significance as these stars continued to come here even after they made it big. 

Maybe, the timing of the tournament, the first week of January, is the USP for Chennai as it prepares the players for the first big event of the year, the Australian Open. Maybe, for someone like Carlos Moya, there is a sentimental attachment towards the event for he was undoubtedly the darling of the tournament having won it twice and came close to winning a third. 

The CEO of Tamil Nadu Tennis Association Hiten Joshi maintains that the tournament would not be upgraded in the near future but he is confident that the show would go on because there is enough support from the pool of sponsors including the State government. Amidst all these how can we forget the contribution of the Indian tennis great Vijay Amritraj, who was instrumental in bringing the event to Chennai and who continues to be a strong presence with his commentary. 

The $480,000 prize money event, South Asia’s only ATP tournament. has also a debutant, the World No. 12 Kevin Anderson (South Africa), World No. 19 Benoit Paire, World No. 25 Roberto Bautista-Agut among others. One of these could even scale the heights that the Nadal and Wawrinka have climbed and that would be the time when the Chennai Open’s status as a quality tournament would be cemented.