US Open champions Ram-Salisbury along with India’s star Bopanna and three others to fight for doubles title at 5th Tata Open Maharashtra

Pune, December 20, 2022: The reigning US Open champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury will headline the star-studded doubles field at the fifth edition of Tata Open Maharashtra along with four Indians, including the defending champions Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan.

South Asia’s only ATP 250 event will take place at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune from December 31 to January 7.

The pair of World No. 3 Ram and Salisbury, the World No. 4, has entered Tata Open Maharashtra with a combined team ranking of seven. “We look forward to welcoming the reigning US Open champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury to Tata Open Maharashtra. It’s a strong field which also has four Indians including Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan, who won the title together last year. It’s always great to watch our players dominating at the tournament in front of home fans and we expect similar gameplay in the upcoming edition as well,” said Prashant Sutar, Tournament Director of Tata Open Maharashtra.  

“I’m delighted to see four Indians in the main draw along with top stars from the tennis world, including champion duo, Ram and Salisbury. It’s going to be exciting.

The Tata Open Maharashtra, owned by IMG and managed by RISE Worldwide, will be conducted by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) for the fifth year in Pune. The tournament, sponsored by Tata Motors, serves as a lead-up to the Australian Open—first Grand Slam of the season.

Bopanna and Ramkumar, who clinched the title last year, will play along with different partners this time. The two-time champion Bopanna, who is also the top-ranked Indian doubles player in the world at 19, will team up with Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp. Ramanathan, on the other hand, will join forces with Mexico’s Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela.

Saketh Myneni and Yuki Bhambri are the other two Indians to feature in the doubles main draw. Playing together, Myneni and Bhambri have won six titles on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2022.

The 16-team draw will have two wild card entries, which are yet to be announced. The former US Open champion Marin Cilic and the last edition’s runner-up Emil Ruusuvuori will lead a strong field in the singles main draw, which also includes 17 Top-100 players.

The qualifying event will begin on December 31 while the main draw will be played from January 2-7.