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Journalism of Courage
Marin8217;s Cilics uncharacteristic enthusiasm as he volunteered to pick out Somdev Devvarmans opponent for the first round at the Chennai Open draw ceremony on Saturday probably had an explanation.
The 21-year-old Croatian,defending champion and second seed here,had to fight off the Indian in last years final,in addition to battling the cacophony of voices cheering for their local hero,on his way to the title. He won that battle in 2009,but as he has discussed in the days leading up to this edition of the tournament,Devvarman has improved over the last year,and maybe running into the home favourite wont be quite as straightforward as the last time.
Rohan Bopanna,also granted a wild card this time,faces an even tougher challenge in the form of No 21 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland. Top seed Robin Soderling has been drawn to play Robby Ginepri of the US,while Cilic will have to contend with Russias Igor Kunitsyn. Vijay Amritraj,whose son Prakash did not receive a wild card this year in a departure from tradition,was conspicuous by his absence at the ceremony.
Qualifying results first round: Prakash Amritraj bt Vishnu Vardhan 7-5 6-3; Peter Polansky CAN bt Rohan Gajjar 6-3 7-6; Marsel Ilhan TUR bt Sanam Singh 6-5 3-6 6-2; James Ward GBR bt Karan Rastogi 6-2 6-4; Yuki Bhambri bt VM Ranjeet 7-5 6-4
