Sanam-Vishnu get wild card for Chennai Open

The organisers of the Aircel VishnuChennai Open 2013 today announced that India’s tennis players Vishnu Vardhan, Sanam Singh, N Sriram Balaji, and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan have been granted wild card entries into the doubles draw of the $430,000 tennis tournament to be held from December 31, 2012 to 6 January, 2013. The wild card entry into the tournament is a significant recognition of the talent the four players possess. Vishnu Vardhan, who will be joining forces with Sanam Singh, has played singles as well as doubles matches for India against New Zealand in the Davis Cup. He has also played in the London Olympics with Paes and paired up with Sania Mirza for the mixed doubles. [caption id=“attachment_571735” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Vishnu Vardhan, who will be joining forces with Sanam Singh, has played singles as well as doubles matches for India against New Zealand in the Davis Cup. AFP[/caption] 24-year-old Sanam Singh is a Davis Cup player and Gold Medallist in the Asian Games of 2012. His inclusion into the doubles draw comes on the back of five International Tennis Federation Futures titles in 2012. Vishnu receives financial support from the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) and together with Sanam the pair could be a strong doubles pair of the future for India. The Tamil Nadu duo of N Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan receive support from TNTA and has improved their rankings substantially in 2012. If they continue to perform well, the pair could break into the top 200 in 2013. The organisers had announced earlier that the country’s top doubles specialist players, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, and Rohan Bopanna will be participating in the season-opener. With the inclusion of four more Indian players, the doubles section will see a strong contingent from the country battle for the title. Bhupathi will be teaming up with World No.5 doubles player Canada’s Daniel Nestor, while World No. 12 Bopanna will partner US-based Rajeev Ram, and World No. 3 Paes will take to the court with new partner Edouard Roger Vasselin of France.