India’s number one ranked women’s tennis player Ankita Raina on Tuesday was awarded a wild card entry for the upcoming Chennai Open which is scheduled to be held here from September 12-18.
Along with the 29-year-old, the 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard of Canada will also be taking part in the WTA 250 tournament as a wild card entrant.
“The wildcards for the 32-player singles main draw have been given to Eugenie Bouchard and Ankita Raina. The two other (wildcards) to be given to anyone in the top-20 willing to come and play here," TNTA president and former Indian tennis player Vijay Amritraj said at a press conference here.
Amritraj said that the wildcards were awarded to both Raina and Bouchard in the women’s singles draw as per the WTA rules.
Meanwhile, the India duo of Sharmada Balu and Riya Bhatia were awarded a wildcard in the doubles draw.
Amritraj further said that there has no confirmation yet on whether star tennis player Sania Mirza would feature in the tournament, given the fact that the 35-year-old also pulled out the US Open with a tendon injury.
“I had a long chat with Sania during Wimbledon where she had said that she was going to participate at the US Open and also had a good chance of making it to the WTA Finals which would have made it hard for her to come back to India for the Chennai Open and then go back," Amritraj said.
“But now that she is injured, it does not look like she is going to play at the US Open and whether she will be fit enough to play with us, we will have to wait and see.
“Even if she does not play, TNTA would like to invite and felicitate her for the incredible career that she has had," he added.
Sania, who earlier announced that she would retire at the end of the 2022 season, recently reached the women’s doubles semifinals in Toronto and also played at the Cincinnati Masters last week.
Former world number 4 Caroline Garcia of France is likely to be the top-seed in the singles draw, as she stormed back into the top 20 after clinching the Cincinnati Masters, defeating Petra Kvitova in the final.
World number 29 Alison-Riske Amritraj and Belgium’s Elise Mertens of Belgium (world rank 32) would be among the other leading names in the fray.
“A few years ago, when I took over as TNTA President, the goal was to get global tennis back in the city. I am happy that it has been achieved. I think the tournament will end up great," Amritraj said.
Asked if the WTA event could be a regular feature in Chennai, Amritraj said, “We need to see how it goes this year. We have got the licence for one year. Also with the desire to host the ATP event, we will have to see how it can be done. But we could end up having it at the same time."
“There is a great opportunity between the events in Dubai and Doha in 2024 with regard to hosting a WTA event here. We are looking at a potential WTA 500 event in 2024. We have to see if we can squeeze it in," he added.
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