A lot to look forward to
Times of India - December 27, 2002

The qualifying event for the Tata Open in Chennai, which will take place on December 28 and 29 at the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium, should have at least six Indian players. Possibly three would get in on the basis of their ATP ranking and the tournament will have three wild cards to give to players who need them to get in. The qualifying event in ATP Tour events is usually extremely sharp and with the main draw cut-off at an amazing 113, there will be quite a few overseas players who will be in Chennai to play the qualifying.

The Indian players who will play in the qualifying rounds will include Harsh Mankad, Sunil Kumar, Mustafa Ghouse, Ajay Ramaswamy and a few more who may get in depending on the number of foreign entries. The qualifying has 32 spots with four players making it to the main draw. So a player will have to win three rounds, two on Saturday and one on Sunday. Another interesting entrant in this year's tournament is 18-year-old Stephen Amritraj, my nephew and Anand's son, who is making his debut in Chennai.

He has a magnificent serve and will be interesting to watch as he competes at the highest level of men's tennis. The three Indian players in the main draw are Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna and my son Prakash. Leander is now a veteran of the Tata Open and a doubles champion at the event for several years. Rohan reached the Asian Tennis championships final in Tashkent recently and Prakash, who won the US junior championships in August in Michigan, led the University of Southern California team as a freshman to a national college championship title.

He was named the Most Valuable Player for the tournament. All three of these players should be great to watch. We know what Leander is capable of and he can get really fired up by our crowds. He knows what it is to play the top guys and has been on the tour for over a decade. I am looking forward to seeing Rohan make his debut at the tournament. He is a big, strong player with a powerful serve and at 22 years of age, is at the prime of his fitness.

Prakash is looking forward to making his debut in the main draw. He is a hard worker and has a passion for the game, two strong attributes which are more than needed if you want to be good. At 19, he is still not the youngest player in the draw. That distinction goes to Mario Ancic of Croatia, who is a player to watch over the next decade.