Only single Indian pair in main draw

Chennai, Dec 30 (UNI) There will be nothing much to cheer for India in the 2007 edition of the Chennai Open beginning on the New Year day.

The absence of star Indians Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, whose fairy tale run began with a hat-trick of title wins from 1997, would be sorely missed, with only single Indian pair figuring in the doubles draw of the Chennai Open 2007 ATP tournament.

The Indian Duo of Ashutosh Singh and Vishal Uppal, who had lost in the first round of qualifying in the singles, were given wild cards. They would take on the scratch combination of Tomas Behrend ( Germany) and Robin Vik (Czech Republic) in their first round pre-quarterfinal match.

If cross the first hurdle, they would run into third seed pair of Jeff coetzee (South Africa) and Rogler Wassen (Netherlands) in the quarterfinals.

The two Indians in the singles-Prakash Amritraj and Karan Rastogi -were pitted against tough opponents-Ivo Karlovic( Croatia) and Alves Thiago (Brazil) and considering the lone entry in doubles, it would be a damp Indian challenge this year.

While Leander would be playing at Doha with Marin Damm, Mahesh Bhupathi had pulled out due to a wrist injury.

The duo had won the titles for three years from 1997 to 1999 and then again in 2002 before they split.

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