For an event that has notoriously lost its lustre after subsequent pullouts from stars, doubts remained about the final line-up even on the eve of Kingfisher Airlines ATP Open’s main draw events. Former World No 1 Lleyton Hewitt’s withdrawal from his Davis Cup singles tie on Sunday gave rise to apprehensions about the Aussie’s Mumbai visit. While the organisers insist that Hewitt hasn’t yet withdrawn, the suspense will continue till the star’s scheduled arrival on Tuesday. Despite the spate of withdrawals, top-seed Richard Gasquet runs into a surprisingly tricky opponent first up. Kristof Vliegen has beaten the Frenchman at his favourite tournament, Roland Garros, though the world No 14 is hopeful of getting the better of the Belgian in Mumbai. The semi-finalist at this year’s Wimbledon doesn’t remember the last time he was top seed at a tournament, but the talented 21-year-old, who reached a career high of 7 this year in July, believes he will go the distance in Mumbai. “Sure it’s a tough opener, but I’ll try for sure,” said the man who trained with French great Yannick Noah before arriving in Mumbai. “He’s a big champion from France, and I thought I’d work with him,” Gasquet said. Aiming at a Top-10 finish, the Frenchman, who is called ‘Baby Federer’, has felt the pressure of living up to his reputation as one of the world’s most skilled players. “It feels incredible being called ‘Baby Federer’. But he’s the best and it’ a difficult game at this level, so I don’t know if it’s really true,” he says. In other main draw games, Frenchman Fabrice Santoro meets compatriot Eduoard Roger Vasselin, while wild card Nicolas Kiefer goes into another high-tension opening clash with French third-seed Paul-Henri Mathieu. In the qualifiers, six Indians remain in contention as rain forced it into Monday. Navdeep Singh clinched a surprise 6-4, 6-4 win over qualifying second seed Las Bergsmuller to advance to the final qualifying round, where Yuki Bhambri and Karan Rastogi are fighting for a spot in the main draw.
