Chennai: World No.3 in doubles and defending champion India’s Leander Paes will pair up with Edouard Roger-Vasselin from France for the 2013 edition of Aircel Chennai Open. India’s only ATP World Tour tennis event will take place at Chennai’s SDAT Tennis Stadium from December 31, 2012 to January 6, 2013.
Paes would be looking to complete a hat-trick in Chennai following the 2011 and 2012 titles he won with Mahesh Bhupathi and Janko Tipsarevic respectively. Paes has had a good run in 2012, winning four titles including the Australian Open and reaching the finals in Tokyo and US Open. A veteran at Chennai Open, Paes has won six titles in the 17 editions of the tournament so far.
For the 29 year-old French Roger-Vasselin, 2012 has been a landmark year, having won three doubles titles, he reached a career-best doubles ranking of 38 before finishing the year on 43. Pairing up with Paes for the first time, Roger-Vasselin will certainly have a lot to learn from the 39 year-old doubles legend Paes.
This pairing will add zest to what is already turning out to be a formidable doubles line-up at the Aircel Chennai Open 2013. While one half of the erstwhile ‘Indian Express’ and current World No. 11 Mahesh Bhupathi will pair-up with World No. 5 Daniel Nestor, World No. 12 & doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna will be pairing-up Rajeev Ram for the event. The tournament already has four doubles players from the top 20, including two ranked among the top ten.
Commenting on the announcement, Karti P Chidambaram, Chairman – Tournament Organising Committee, Vice President – AITA & TNTA said, “It is always a pleasure to have Leander Paes playing in Chennai. Besides him being a fine doubles player, he is also the most successful here with six titles under his belt. I would like to wish Paes and Roger-Vasselin all the best for the tournament and the upcoming season.”
Ashu Jindal, COO, IMG Reliance said, “Over the past few years, Indians have been doing exceedingly well in doubles. India boasts of three top 20 doubles’ players in the world and with Paes pairing-up with Roger-Vasselin, we are extremely proud to announce that we have all of them playing at this year’s tournament.”
“Paes and Roger-Vasselin are pairing up for the first time at the 2013 edition of the Aircel Chennai Open. While enough has been written and said about Leander, it will be a tremendous learning opportunity for Roger-Vasselin. Going by their individual records and playing styles, I am pretty certain the duo will give the others a run for their money in this tournament”, said, Tournament Director Tom Annear.
By Indian Sports News Network
