The Chennai Open’s stature shoots up, not on with the prize money, but with star participation. The WTA meet in Kolkata wowed the crowd recently with a truly top-notch show by Anastasia Myskina.Now Chennai follows, as Spain’s Rafael Nadal, the world No. 2, readies to showcase his talent.That’s a first for the $400,000 ATP Chennai Open Open in its ten-year history. That participation of the reigning French Open champion has been confirmed.Nadal also becomes the first world No. 2 to grace south Asia’s only showcase event, scheduled between January 2 and 8.Back in 2004, Nadal, then just 16, had a mixed outing in the event which is one of the three events apart from Adeliade and Doha that kick-starts the ATP season. Though seeded No. 6 in the singles draw, Nadal was a casualty in first round, falling in straight sets to unseeded Frenchman Thierry Ascione 6-7, 4-6. However, he made his visit memorable winning the doubles title, pairing up with Tommy Robredo to defeat top-seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram.
