Tough to look beyond Wawrinka

For tennis fans in this part of the world, the Aircel Chennai Open is sort of a jamboree. It is an annual confluence of some of the world’s best tennis players, showing their wizardry in front of a crowd largely deprived of any quality tennis action otherwise. Nothing ever precedes or follows this event, which is in its 20th year.

But season-openers are rarely seen in isolation. When put on the world stage, their importance grows manifold. The tremors caused by players right at the start of the year reach far and wide, extending deep into the ever-growing tennis season. 

Under scrutiny

And with that comes scrutiny and endless days under the microscope entailing a complete dissection of one’s game.

Stan Wawrinka discovered that last year. It was considered his breakout season, quite odd for someone 29 years old.

When he won the Australian Open, he was credited with having opened the doors for players other than the ‘Big Four’ — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. 

A first Masters title and Davis Cup followed. But with every early loss — Miami, Indian Wells and Roland Garros — he was subjected to the sort of inquisition normally reserved for the world’s best. But he held on and finished in the upper tier.

Now, as he arrives in Chennai as the top seed, he is being welcomed by a seemingly tricky draw. A possible second round opponent could be the exciting 18-year-old from Croatia, Borna Coric. He is also drawn to meet the Belgian David Goffin in the semifinals.

The bottom half is led by the two Spaniards, Feliciano Lopez and Roberto Bautista-Agut. While the former is enjoying a resurgence in the autumn of his career, the latter is a vastly-improved player since he made the final here in 2013.

It is also in this half that the two Indians, both wild cards, Somdev Devvarman and Ramkumar Ramanathan, find themselves in.

For the soon-to-be 30 Devvarman, it marks the first step towards his goal of getting back into the top-100. For 20-year-old Ramkumar, a place in the main draw is a re-affirmation of his growing potential.

From a season-ending ranking of 704 in 2013, the youngster reached a career-high 211 and is now 241. In the last edition, a run which started in the qualifiers ended with the big scalp of Devvarman in the first round.

As a result, the 2015 event will give him his first taste of defending a substantial number of points; 32 in this case. He opens against the Japanese Tatsuma Ito and is drawn to meet Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Feliciano Lopez in subsequent rounds.

For the title, however, it is tough to look beyond Wawrinka. The world No. 4’s form did indeed wax and wane. Yet, the average level at which he played was a notch above his previous year’s as this career progression during the last five years suggests — No. 21, No. 17, No. 17, No. 8 and No. 4.

Still, one decent year never offsets years of underperformance. So, the need for consistency is all the more evident as he goes into the Australian Open with the tag of defending champion.

How much he would like an encore in Chennai before that?

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/tennis/aircel-chennai-open-2015-tough-to-look-beyond-wawrinka/article6754110.ece