INDIA WELCOMES THREE-WEEK CHALLENGER TOUR SWING
Spoiler:
Somdev Devvarman will lead the charge in Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi.
A new era of Indian tennis is ready to commence on Monday, as the world’s second-most populous nation welcomes a series of ATP Challenger Tour tournaments over the next three weeks.
India’s top-ranked player, former World No. 62 Somdev Devvarman, will be the top seed next week in Chennai and is scheduled to follow the swing to Kolkata and New Delhi as well. While the Aircel Chennai Open, an ATP World Tour 250 level tournament, has been a fixture in India since 1996, it has been six years since the nation hosted a Challenger event.
Devvarman will be joined by countrymen Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Saketh Myneni, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and N. Sriram Balaji during the series.
Officially the P.L. Reddy Memorial ATP Challenger, the Chennai tournament is named after the late Davis Cup captain and Secretary of the All India Tennis Association, who was an instrumental figure in promoting Indian tennis.
All events will be held on outdoor hard courts, with the New Delhi Challenger offering the largest purse of $100,000.