Maharashtra Open: Marin Cilic looks to win third title in India; Leander Paes faces Rohan Bopana in doubles opener

After 21 years of being played in Chennai, India’s season-opening ATP World Tour 250 event will be held in Pune, rechristened from ATP Chennai Open to ATP Maharashtra Open. With a strong field being led by World No 6 Marin Cilic, who won the Chennai Open in 2009 and 2010, and South Africa’s World No 14 Kevin Anderson, the tournament also has players like World No 22 Roberto Bautista Agut, Gilles Simon, Benoit Paire and Robin Haase in the mix. Top seed Cilic, second seed Anderson, third seed Bautista Agut and fourth seed Paire have all been given first round byes. [caption id=“attachment_4282647” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Marin Cilic during a practice session in Pune.[/caption] With precious ranking points on offer, Cilic will start as the favourite at the tournament, which starts on Monday. The 6'6" Croatian had a 44-22 win-loss record last year, but clinched the Istanbul title in 2017 besides making it to the Wimbledon final, where he suffered a heartbreaking straight sets loss to Roger Federer. Cilic missed the tournaments between Wimbeldon and the US Open due to an adductor injury, but seems to have recovered well. Joining him in the top half of the draw will be World No 22 Bautista Agut, who is back to defend the title he claimed in Chennai last year, with victory over Daniil Medvedev. Bautista Agut’s first challenge could be in the form of Simon, who will face American Tennys Sandgren in his opener. Also in the top half of the draw are Indians Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri and Arjun Kadhe. Bhambri has been drawn to face Kadhe in his opener. Ramanathan will begin his campaign against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena and, should he win, will find himself facing off against Cilic. In the bottom half of the draw, Anderson will lead the charge after his 2017 season was marred by injury. However, the South African finished the season strongly, making it to the US Open final, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. Thirty-one-year-old Anderson ended the season among the top 15 in the world. The hard court specialist also made it to the final of the Citi Open held at Washington. At Pune, he will begin his charge towards his first ATP title since 2015 with a match against either Ruben Bemelmans or a qualifier. Fourth seed Paire and fifth seed Haase are also looking at the prospect of an explosive quarter-final clash should things go according to the form card. Paire will begin his campaign against either Nicolas Kicker or Marton Fucsovics, while Haase has been drawn against Blaz Kavcic. Also in the bottom half of the draw is Pablo Andujar, who had to face a lengthy stint away from the game due to injury in 2017. In fact, the Spaniard, who will face Nicolas Jarry in his opener, has not played a tour-level match since late 2016. Leander Paes vs Rohan Bopanna The doubles draw, meanwhile, will see four Indian pairs – Bhambri-Divij Sharan, Rohan Bopanna-Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, Leander Paes-Purav Raja and N Sriram Balaji-Vishnu Vardhan – in action, while Kadhe will partner Paire. The most explosive match of the tournament should be Paes-Raja’s opener against Bopanna and Nedunchezhiyan. Raja partnered with Paes just before the US Open and ended the season with back-to-back Challenger titles. There was also a semi-final finish at the ATP 250 St Petersburg Open. Meanwhile, the Bhambri-Sharan pair will start its campaign against Laslo Djere and Kavcic. Balaji and Vardhan will begin their campaign against Adil Shamasdin and Neal Skupski and will face Kadhe and Paire should they win. Interestingly, Paes-Raja, Bopanna-Nedunchezhiyan and Bhambri-Sharan are part of the top half of the draw along with the top seeded pairing of Robert Lindstedt and Franko Skugor. Kadhe and Paire, who will being their campaign against second seeds Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop, are in the bottom half of the draw along with Balaji and Vardhan. India’s Sumit Nagal also made it to the main draw after beating Spain’s Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 on Sunday. The World No 223 will face qualifier Ilya Ivashka in the first round. The final will be held on 6 January.