Tennis flavor at the Mecca of Indian Tennis

With all the eyes on cricket, “The Chennai Open” turned the eyes to the tennis season for a few days. The players eagerly look for performances in Chennai to set the bar for the year, giving the Chennai tennis lovers an early taste of the exciting season ahead.

Going into its eleventh year, the Chennai open continues to grow and establish itself as one of the finest on the ATP circuit and has gained significance in the global context. The event has also placed Chennai on the world tennis map.

Tennis lovers and players around the world recognize Chennai as the Mecca of Indian tennis – as the city has produced world class players like Ramanathan Krishnan, Ramesh Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj, Anand Amritraj and Leander Paes.

This tournament has been consecutively played for nine years, is only because of the world class infrastructure facilities available. Mr. Narayanan, president of the TNTA (Tamil Nadu Tennis Association) tells us that “both players and officials have rated the stadium as one of the best in Asia”. He also adds that “it is the only global sporting event played annually in India.”

A amateur from the local tennis club tells us that watching the sport live makes him learn the tacks of the game and provides him confidence for playing in further games. Another onlooker who has brought his entire family members and friends from Bangalore tells that “I love tennis and I’ve been coming to Chennai for the past 9 years to watch tennis”. This young man and his group mates have placed a bet on Moya who won the Singles Championship last year.

Rafael Nadal fans were definitely heartbroken as he couldn’t participate this time due to injury. Ivan Ljubicic replaced him and also surprised the crowd by winning the Singles Championship Trophy this year. And not to forget three cheers for our Government and our Honorable Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalitha for making this tournament a success. All that starts well ends well and so did the Chennai open.

By, Sharanya CR

Post Script:

Lovely game I say! I was reporting sports then in my first year! And here it is my first game that I reported. In the picture: Ivan Ljubicic