Top seed Alison Riske to open campaign against Gasanova

CHENNAI: Top seed Alison Riske-Amritraj will begin her WTA Chennai Open 250 run against Anastasia Gasanova in the first round while the second-seeded Varvara Gracheva will face a qualifier in her opener.

The official draw ceremony for the inaugural WTA Chennai Open was held at the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Nungambakkam on Saturday. Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded Tatjana Maria, who reached the women’s singles semi-finals at Wimbledon earlier this year, will take on Ankita Raina, one of the two Indian wildcards.

The other Indian wildcard, Karman Kaur Thandi, will battle it out against Chloe Paquet for a spot in the second round. One of the biggest names in the tournament, Eugenie Bouchard will start her campaign against Joanne Zuger.

Addressing the media, Tamil Nadu Tennis Association president Vijay Amritraj said: “The one thing it (Chennai Open) has done is bring the buzz back to the city. Strong support from the Tamil Nadu government made this possible.

“We have strong support from the APG Group (license holder). We worked closely with the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) to bring this event to Chennai. It is important for me to host a women’s event in my home city. We hope the tournament goes well.”

On Friday, Caroline Garcia, who made it to the US Open singles semi-finals, and Elise Mertens pulled out in what were huge blows for the tournament.