The last time Marin Cilic visited these parts, things were rather swish. It was the inaugural edition of the Tata Open Maharashtra (2018) and everything about the tournament was fresh and exciting.
The stands were spruced up, the courts were immaculately laid and the hospitality was grand. Cilic, sporting an exotic line of FILA clothing, was a cool No. 6 in the world.
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Five years on, the Croat will return to the leafy environs of the Balewadi Stadium to a comparatively less swanky atmosphere but no less exciting. The 34-year-old may now be No. 17 and no longer a FILA athlete, but the event seems to have regained its mojo.
After a year’s cancellation because of Covid (2021) and two years spent in the less-than-ideal window after the Australian Open (2020 and 2022), the competition is back to being an important build-up tournament to the season’s first Major.
This has reflected in the player roster. Where in 2020 and 2022 there was just one top-60 player in the singles draw, the coming week will see as many as eight, including five in the top-50 (rankings as on Sunday).
The strength is evident in doubles as well, where the world’s second-best pair of Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury will be in action alongside home favourite Rohan Bopanna (teaming up with Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp).
The competitive field will no doubt spur Cilic, the star attraction and top seed, to give his best after a bittersweet 2022. The 2014 US Open champion didn’t win a single ATP title but reached the semifinals at Roland-Garros for the first time in his career, snapping a run of 12 Majors without a quarterfinal.
Second seed and World No. 35 Van de Zandschulp will look to build on the previous season’s performance, where he reached a career-high ranking of No.22 and made his first ATP tour final in Munich.
Argentina’s Sebastian Baez, one of 2022’s breakout stars, Dutchman Tim van Rijthoven, who as a No. 205 mowed past Taylor Fritz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Daniil Medvedev to win on grass at Den Bosch last year, the big-hitting Russian Aslan Karatsev and Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic are the other notable names.
Among Indians, apart from the three wildcards in the tennis tournament – Mukund Sasikumar, Sumit Nagal, and Manas Manoj Dhamne – Ramkumar Ramanathan made it to the main draw, coming through the qualifying on Sunday. That no Indian singles player is in the top 300 is an unsettling fact. The onus will be on these four to lift the pensive mood.
Qualifying results (final round): Flavio Cobolli (Italy) beat Zdenek Kolar (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-4; Elias Ymer (Sweden) beat Yuki Bhambri 6-1, 6-4; Maximilian Marterer (Germany) beat Nikola Milojevic (Serbia) 6-2, 6-3; Ramkumar Ramanathan beat Mattia Bellucci (Italy) 6-3, 7-5.
