Chennai hopes for an Indian encore

The autograph collectors were out in full force at the Nungambakkam Stadium tennis courts on Monday,frantically trying to arrange...

The autograph collectors were out in full force at the Nungambakkam Stadium tennis courts on Monday,frantically trying to arrange for pieces of paper they could get their precious scribbles on. They moved around the outside courts as the players continued their practice sessions and qualifying round matches,peering into each court before attempting an entry,and hunting in packs. The real action at the Chennai Open,the one with ATP points attached,begins from Monday,but the courts had a constant buzz even a day before,as last-minute arrangements were put into place at centre court and those unused to the citys climate played a few sets against each other.

Hope and expectations about another Indian encore all the way to the final watered down slightly after Saturdays draw placed the home favourites in tricky situations early on,but as it turned out,their opponents were unwilling to place the Indians entirely in the underdog category.

Rainer Schuettler,who plays Somdev Devvarman first up,had a few practice sessions with the Indian last year and marked his improvement over the last season. Somdev has no weakness,he moves well and plays solid. The first round of the years first tournament is always a tough one,and he will have the home crowds support behind him, said Schuettler,returning to the locker room after an hour of training.

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Once ranked No.5 in the world,the German briefly slipped out of the top 100 last year before making it to his current No.85. He had 15 first-round exits on the ATP tour last year,and would like to redress that statistic,certainly not add to it in the opening event of the year.

Grinder of points

Devvarman,who has shown himself up to the task of grinding out points from the baseline,will find himself evenly matched. I have to play real well to have a chance,but I like my chances. My preparation has been very good, said Devvarman,who,like Schuettler,has been in Chennai for the last week. His reward for a first-round win will be a battle against Carlos Moya or fourth seed Janko Tipsarevic.

Robin Soderling,top seed and arriving from Abu Dhabi after his first win in 13 attempts over No.1 Roger Federer,reached Chennai only on Sunday,getting only brief practice before his scheduled first-round match against Robby Ginepri. He could play third seed Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in the semi-finals,provided the Swiss,who was upset in the first round last year,keeps any such unexpected results at bay. He will open against Rohan Bopanna.

On Monday,second seed Marin Cilic will begin the six-match journey to his title defence against 104-ranked Russian Igor Kunitsyn. They have never faced each other before,but the Croatian,at 21 years of age coming off his best year on tour as against his 28-year-old opponent whose career-high has been only 35,should be able to deal with whatever Kunitsyn puts in his way.

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Carlos Moya and Serbian Janko Tipsarevic come together in the days second match,and while injury dogged the Spaniard through most of 2009,in front of the supportive Chennai crowds who always reserve a bit of their energy to cheer for their perennial favourite,he is sure to give his Serbian opponent a fight to watch out for. Tipsarevic won over his own bunch of fans the last time he played here,and they will ensure he doesnt feel any lack of support either.

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