CHENNAI : Tennis fans witnessing sporting action at Aircel Chennai Open 2016 will witness the return of one of the tournament's favorites, 2013 singles champion and a former top 10 player - Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic, who will be back to battle it out at the US $480,000 prize money event between 4th – 10th January 2016.
On his seventh visit to participate in South Asia's only and India's premier ATP tournament, Janko has made the main draw using his entry protected ranking of 39, making it to the list of 10 players from the top 50. The last player in the main draw, Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko, will now feature in the Alternates list. With Janko’s inclusion, the 20th edition of the tournament in Chennai will see 10 players from amongst the world’s top 50.
In 2013, Tipsarevic had a dream start to the season when he won in Chennai, defeating Bautista Agut (Spain) in three sets 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 and capturing the fourth ATP World Tour title of his career.
In March this year, Janko made a return to the ATP World Tour after making a recovery from injury and subsequent surgery. He partnered Novak Djokovic in the first round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami. The very next month, he won his first ATP World Tour singles match since 21 October 2013 in Valencia. This marked his first singles win since 1 October 2013 in Tokyo. Partnering Djokovic, Janko also reached the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Montreal semi final.
In the 2012 edition of the Aircel Chennai Open, Tipsarevic lost to 21-year-old Canadian Milos Raonic in an epic three hour and 14-minute singles final. Immediately following this match, Tipsarevic won the 2012 doubles crown with Indian ace Leander Paes in front of a full-house centre court crowd.
An exceptional line-up of top talent is preparing to play in Chennai. Cutting off at 94, the impressive player field will see World No. 4 Stan Wawrinka, Chennai-debutant World No. 12 Kevin Anderson, World no. 19 and ATP's Comeback Player of the Year 2015 Benoit Paire, World No. 25 Roberto Bautista-Agut, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Gilles Muller, Vasek Pospisil, Borna Coric and Aljaz Bedene among others.
The Title Sponsor for the tournament is Aircel and the event is supported by a consortium of sponsors in the Platinum and Gold category, headed by the Government of Tamil Nadu.
About Aircel Chennai Open 2016
The USD 480,000 Aircel Chennai Open, owned by IMG and operated and organised by IMG Reliance, is India's and South Asia's only ATP World Tour event. Started in 1996, by IMG, a global leader in sports management and marketing, the event has completed 20 successful years in Chennai, branding Chennai and India on the global tennis map thus creating a legacy of sorts of promoting international tennis in India. Winner of the prestigious ATP's Player Services Award of Excellence (2006) for its outstanding organization and wonderful hospitality towards the participants and ATP's Best Marketing Award (2008), the tournament has acquired the status of a much sought-after tennis event for both players and fans alike in the International tennis circuit. The 21st edition of the event in India, and 20th in Chennai will be held from 4th – 10th January, 2016 at the SDAT Tennis stadium in Nungambakkam, Chennai. The tournament is conducted in Chennai with the active collaboration of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) and Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA).
