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The Chennai Open has been India's largest tennis
event since 1997. Held at the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Chennai, this ATP event has
attracted some of the best names in tennis circuit, including Boris Becker,
Rafael Nadal and Carlos Moya. The tournament is played on hard court (PlayPave)
and comprises of two events - the Men's Singles and the Men's Doubles and
carries a total prize money of $450,000.
The Men's Singles event has 32 players, which
includes 3 wild cards and 4 qualifiers and the Men's Doubles event features 16
teams. The event is usually held in the first week of January and is recognized
as the first ATP event of the calendar year.
Initially called the Gold Flake Open, and
subsequently the Tata Open and the Chennai Open, the event now has a new tile
sponsor - Aircel, and is called Aircel Chennai Open. Support for the event also
comes from the Tamil Nadu Government along with a consortium consisting of
Indian Bank, United India Insurance and Indian Overseas Bank under the Platinum
category and Murugappa Group and Larsen & Toubro under the Gold category.
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