Former Champion Janko Tipsarevic withdraws from Aircel Chennai Open 2015 due to illness

Janko Tipsarevic

Chennai, December 18, 2014: Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic, the Aircel Chennai Open 2013 Singles Champion, has been forced to withdraw from the tournament due to illness as advised by his physician. The former World No. 8, fast recovering and practicing after surgery, was all set to make a return to competitive tennis in the new season and granted a singles wild card. Sweden’s Elias Ymer will now battle it out in the main draw of the upcoming tournament, debuting as a wild card entry in the 20th edition.

30-year-old Tipsarevic, a regular at Aircel Chennai Open and one of the tournament’s favorites will be match fit only in February next year. At Aircel Chennai Open 2013, Tipsarevic had a dream start to 2013 when he captured the fourth ATP World Tour title of his career, defeating Bautista Agut (Spain) in three sets 3–6, 6–1, 6–3 here in Chennai. The 2015 edition was to be the Serb’s seventh visit to Chennai.

18 year-old Ymer is a Swedish tennis player of Ethiopian descent and attained his career high ranking of World No. 225 this month. Ymer made his ATP main draw singles debut at the 2013 Swedish Open where he lost in the first round to Grigor Dimitrov. Ymer was given a wildcard at the 2014 Swedish Open defeating Mikhail Kukushkin in the first round before falling to João Sousa in the second round. He has won 5 ITF Futures Singles titles in 2014. Ymer is coached by Magnus Norman & Mikael Tillstrom and is a resident of Stockholm.

The 2015 edition of the Aircel Chennai Open, charming fans at Chennai’s SDAT Stadium from January 5th to 11th 2015, will mark twenty years since the very first game of India’s premier and South Asia’s only ATP World Tour event was played.

The upcoming event will present a thrilling lineup of players that includes four top-25 players and three 2014 ATP World Tour Award winners cutting off at 95. Thrilling talent such as World No. 4 and Defending Singles Champion Stan Wawrinka, World No. 14 Feliciano Lopez and World No. 15 Roberto Bautista Agut, and World No. 22 David Goffin will participate. Other leading players who will add excitement to the event include Spaniards Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Marcel Granollers, Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller, Chinese Taipei’s Yen-Hsun Lu and 2014 finalist Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

The Title Sponsor for the tournament is Aircel and the event is supported by a consortium of sponsors in the Platinum category, headed by the Government of Tamil Nadu.

About Aircel Chennai Open 2015

The USD 450,000 Aircel Chennai Open, owned by IMG and operated and organised by IMG Reliance, is India's and South Asia's only ATP World Tour event. Started in 1996, by IMG, a global leader in sports management and marketing, the event has completed 20 successful years of existence, branding Chennai and India on the global tennis map thus creating a legacy of sorts of promoting international tennis in India. Winner of the prestigious ATP's Player Services Award of Excellence (2006) for its outstanding organization and wonderful hospitality towards the participants and ATP's Best Marketing Award (2008), the tournament has acquired the status of a much sought-after tennis event for both players and fans alike in the International tennis circuit. The 20th edition of the event in India and 19th in Chennai will be held from 5th – 11th January, 2015 at the SDAT Tennis stadium in Nungambakkam, Chennai. The tournament is conducted in Chennai with the active collaboration of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) and Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA).