E-Paper
Suraj Prabodh from Mysore gets wildcard at Bengaluru Open tennis 2017
Suraj Prabodh from Mysuru got a wild card entry in the Bengaluru Open, a premier event on the ATP Challenger Tour
Suraj Prabodh from Mysuru today got a wild card entry in the USD 100,000 Bengaluru Open, a premier event on the ATP Challenger Tour, which gets underway with the qualifying round on Saturday.
Also saving the trouble of going through the qualifiers are India’s leading player Saketh Myneni who is on a comeback trail after an injury lay-off and Sumit Nagal.
The fourth and last wild card along with the two special category slots will be announced tomorrow.
Suraj, who grew up playing practicing wall tennis in Mysuru, has taken huge strides and was one of the top juniors players in India.
Suraj, who played the Australian Open Juniors and recently finished as the runner-up in the National Championship, would be looking to grab the opportunity.
READ | Roger Federer overtakes Tiger Woods, becomes highest prize money earner
“I am glad that I have got a wild card. I shall try to justify the gesture,” said the 22-year-old.
Meanwhile, Sumit, a winner in the Junior Wimbledon Doubles in 2015, has been consistent with his performances in the ITF and Challenger circuit. He is also the winner of the indoor Asian Games gold medal.
Bengaluru will be the final stop of the 5-legged ATP sojourn in Asia with Vietnam hosting two of them, China and Pune (currently underway) hosting one each.
Since the Bengaluru Open carries points that are allotted for a USD 125,000 prize money event as apart from the prize money, the hospitality is also being taken care of by the organisers, it comes as a boon to those players who are in the cusp of breaking into the top-100 to garner maximum points before they embark on the next season.
READ | Grigor Dimitrov enters semis of ATP World Tour Finals, Dominic Thiem in contention
As many as 22 players earned a direct entry with four wild cards, four qualifiers and two special category slots making up the draw of 32.
Three other Indians - Yuki Bhambri, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, and Ramkumar Ramanathan - have already booked a slot in the main draw.
