By Anand Philar, IANS
Chennai : World No.2 and top seed Rafael Nadal would be making his third assault on the $436,000 ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament beginning here Monday, and the reigning French Open champion appears primed to win this title here.
The 21-year-old Spanish southpaw is keen to redress his semi-final loss to eventual winner Xavier Malisse last year and it would take a brave man to look beyond Nadal to take home the winner’s cheque of $68,000 next Sunday.
Given his awesome form in recent times that has seen him occupy the No.2 ranking for 121 consecutive weeks since July 25, 2005, Nadal is in peak physical condition with no major injury worries to contend with.
On his first visit to Chennai in 2004, Nadal, then only 17, crashed in the first round to Frenchman Theirry Asione who went on to lose to yet another Spaniard Carlos Moya, who, in turn won the first of his two back-to-back titles here.
Nadal, the only top-10 player in the 32-man field, is slated to meet Moya in the semi-finals if form and seedings are anything to go by.
Moya, ranked No.17 and the third seed behind Marcos Baghdatis, has enjoyed rare success in the tournament where he made three consecutive finals, winning twice (2004, 2005) and losing to the giant Croatian Ivan Ljubicic the following year.
At 31, Moya seems to have his best years behind him, but Chennai occupies a special place in his heart and enjoys rare rapport with the crowd. As such, he will yet again begin as the emotional favourite, though it will take much more than just support from the stands for him to win his fourth crown.
As for Malisse, the 27-year old Belgian finds himself unseeded with his ranking dropped to 112 from a high of 19 in 2002. He had begun 2007 on a promising note with two ATP titles, including a double in Chennai. However, a wrist injury kept him out of tour for six months and he has not played competitive tennis since October. Under the circumstances, it remains to be seen whether he would be able to repeat his 2007 performance here.
Baghdatis made the headlines in 2006 when he reached the Australian Open final where he lost to Roger Federer. En route, the 22-year old Cypriot defeated three top-10 players (Roddick, Nalbandian and Ljubicic) and finished the year at No.12 after starting out at No.54.
However, at best, he has been consistent in 2007 with one ATP title and reaching two other finals to end up at No.16. “My target for this year is to break into top 10 and I feel quite confident of doing so,” he said.
Apart from the front-runners, the likes of Russian Mikhail Youzhny, the fourth seed, and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut who is seeded fifth can write their own script.
Youzhny, the 25-year old from Moscow, turned millionaire this year with a series of fine performances, including his third career ATP title in Rotterdam. He has held out a lot of promise that took him to a career high of No.10 in August this year that he eventually ended at No.19.
The Russian’s best performance was in 2006. Ranked No.54, he reached the US Open semi-finals scalping Nadal in the process and lost to Roddick as he climbed to No.24. With four top-10 wins this year, Youzhny feels he is in peak condition going into Chennai Open.
“I am feeling good physically, but for this year, I have not set any targets. I just want to improve and if I keep winning matches, I am sure my ranking will improve. I hope to start the New Year well,” he said.
Similarly, Mahout, though only ranked 45, is also being touted as a title contender. The 25-year old Frenchman has a win over Nadal this year at the Queen’s Club tournament in London where he reached the final and even held a championship point against Roddick.
Still seeking his maiden ATP title, Mahout, the junior Wimbledon champion in 2000, is reckoned to be a dangerous floater and along with Youzhny, he is in the same half as Baghdatis with the two expected to meet in the quarter-finals.
The Indian interest in the singles draw revolves around Prakash Amritraj and National grasscourt champion Vishnu Vardhan, both having received wild card entries.
While Prakash is drawn to meet a qualifier, Vardhan is up against Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France.
Prakash, a wild card since 2003, has only twice (2004 and ’06) made it to the second round, a record that does not exactly do justice to his pedigree of being son of the iconic Vijay Amritraj. Vardhan owes his wild card debut to his National Grasscourt title.