In a major blow to Indian hopes at the Chennai Open, Yuki Bhambri announced on Sunday, the 27th of December, that he has withdrawn from India’s premier ATP 250 tournament on.
“Unfortunately, my recovery has taken longer than I expected and so will not be able to play in Chennai this year. Going to keep working to be ready for Australia,” the top-ranked Indian wrote, aiming to be ready for the year’s first Grand Slam.
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The news is disappointing for his fans given that the Delhi player was coming off his best ever season on the ATP Tour. In 2015, the 23-year-old cracked the top 100 for the first time,reaching a career-high ranking of 88. The 2009 Australian Open juniors winner clinched Challenger titles at Shanghai and Pune besides reaching the finals of three other Challenger events.
The stellar 2015 season also saw him qualify for the Australian Open, where he lost to eventual runner-up Andy Murray in the first round.
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The Aircel Chennai Open, which begins on January 4, 2016 will still see a competitive field in its 20th edition.
French Open champion Stan Wawrinka will return to defend his title as he aims for success for the fourth time in Chennai. The other big names vying for the title are World No. 12 Kevin Anderson, World No. 19 Benoit Paire and former finalist Roberto Bautista Agut.
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About the author
Sudeshna Banerjee
Sudeshna is a veteran Indian Sports and International Tennis journalist as well as editor at Sportskeeda. She has an overall experience of over 10 years with top publications like The Bridge, Fox Sports Asia, and gained a keen interest in Indian sports since the 2002 Commonwealth and Asian Games when she was in school.
Sudeshna holds a Master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She attends tournaments regularly and being a highly experienced journalist, she ensures she only contacts the correct people from her network for the most authentic information to be put in her articles.
Sudeshna’s favorite Indian athlete is PV Sindhu owing to her big-tournament performances. She also admires Tennis legend Rafael Nadal for his resilience and has witnessed the Spaniard in action at the French Open, due to which, Roland Garros is her all-time favorite Grand Slam tournament.
Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics made a lasting impact on Sudeshna. She has also interviewed him along with Badminton star Chirag Shetty and several other sports personalities. She has done on-ground reporting on multiple ITF tournaments along with the Premier Badminton League, Asian Boxing Championships and the Davis Cup.
When not using her skills and years of experience in crafting compelling content, Sudeshna likes to read, watch movies and travel.
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