Tata Group presents Tata Indian open
September 3, 2001

The Tata Group today announced its sponsorship of the Indian Open Tennis Tournament which will henceforth be known as the Tata Indian Open. The Tata Indian Open, owned and organised by IMG, is India and South Asia’s only ATP International Series event, and one of only seven in all of Asia. The upcoming tournament will be in its seventh year in India.

The Tata Indian Open will be held in Chennai for the sixth consecutive year from December 31, 2001 - January 6, 2002. The tournament is conducted under the aegis of the All India Tennis Association and is organised with the active collaboration of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association, with assistance of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu. The event has been presented the ATP Award for Excellence twice and the award for the Best Promoted Tournament in the International Group over the past four years.

 The Tata Group, which has a long-standing tradition of supporting sports in our country, comes in as the title sponsor of the country’s premier tennis tournament for a period of three years.

 "We are proud to be associated with India's only ATP International Series event. It is also a tribute to India's growing passion with tennis, and the Tata Group’s support of its development in the country. In fact in May this year, we brought to India some of the world's best known names in tennis like Bjorn Borg, Vijay Amritraj , Guillermo Vilas, and Henri Leconte to play at the Tata Tennis Legends Tournament,” said Romit Chaterji, Vice President-Corporate Affairs, Tata Services.

 IMG, the world’s largest sports and entertainment management and marketing company, has once again exhibited its prowess in aligning some of the country’s top companies and brands with world-class events in India.

 "We were always confident of matching one of India’s top corporate names to India’s biggest tennis tournament," said Ravi Krishnan,       Jt. Managing Director – IMG/TWI South Asia and International Vice President – IMG. "Once again, we have shown that a premium event will attract a premium title sponsor, and the brand new Tata Indian Open tennis tournament is a perfect example," he added.

 The Tata Indian Open will kick off the run for the 2002 ATP Champion’s Race.  In the past, the event has attracted some of tennis’ top international names including Boris Becker, Patrick Rafter, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Richard Krajicek and Carlos Moya. As many as 50 players from last years ATP top 100 have played in the tournament in India.