Wawrinka, Tipsarevic to play in Chennai Open

Swiss world number eight Stanislas Wawrinka and defending champion Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia headline a strong field for the season-opening ATP Chennai Open from December 30, organisers said on Thursday.

Swiss world number eight Stanislas Wawrinka and defending champion Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia headline a strong field for the season-opening ATP Chennai Open from December 30, organisers said on Thursday.

The 15th-ranked Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, number 16 Fabio Fognini of Italy and Benoit Paire of France are also set to compete in the the $450,000 event, the organisers said in a statement.

Wawrinka will make his sixth appearance in South Asia's biggest tennis tournament where he was crowned the singles champion in 2011 and began a successful 2013 by winning the doubles title with Paire.

The 28-year-old Swiss qualified for his maiden ATP World Tour Finals in London earlier this month where he reached the semi-finals, before losing to Novak Djokovic.

In September, Wawrinka created a sensation at the US Open by beating reigning champion Andy Murray in the quarter-finals, before going down to Djokovic in the semi-final after a five-set thriller.

Youzhny will also be a strong contender in Chennai where he won the singles title in 2008 by defeating Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the final.

Other players in the line-up include Canadian Vasek Pospisil, Marcel Granollers and Roberto Bautista-Agut of Spain and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

The tournament serves as a warm-up for the season's first Grand Slam, the Australian Open.