The 2018 Maharashtra Open will mark a new era for Indian tennis. India hosts one of the first ATP tournaments of the year, but this year, the event has moved from Chennai to Pune. A new location will lend a fresh coat of paint to India’s ATP tour stop, one of three central warm-up events for the upcoming Australian Open. Not a lot of big names are going to be coming out for this event. However, we will see some players who are looking to tune up for the Australian Open. The biggest name of the bunch in this spot is Marin Cilic. He’s made some deep runs in grand slams before and a good showing here would give him some momentum as we move towards the Australian Open.
The competition in the 28-player main draw begins on Monday, January 1. Let’s take a closer look at who is the best bet to win this event.
Event Details
Event: Pune Maharashtra Open
Category: ATP 250 Series
Date: January 1-6, 2018
Location: Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex – Pune, India
With a prize money allotment of just over $501,000, this is a relatively standard amount of money for an ATP 250 tournament. The prize money did grow slightly from last year’s total of nearly $450,000. This is a valuable tune-up for the Australian Open. In terms of preparation more than money, this event matters for the pros on tour before the trip to Melbourne.
Points:
Champion – 250
Runner-up – 150
Semifinal – 90
Quarterfinal – 45
Former Champions and Results
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2017: Roberto Bautista Agut def. Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4
2016: Stan Wawrinka def. Borna Coric 6-3, 7-5
2015: Stan Wawrinka def. Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4
2014: Stan Wawrinka def. Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5, 6-2
2013: Janko Tipsarevic def. Roberto Bautista-Agut 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
Player Info:
Marin Cilic is the top seed at this event. He reached the Wimbledon final in 2017 and had a few other moments in which he played high-level tennis, specifically the Shanghai Masters in which he engaged Rafael Nadal in a terrific semifinal. Cilic, when healthy, is dangerous enough to beat any opponent on tour. However, inconsistency is a problem. In his defense, he got injured at the end of Wimbledon and did not have a chance to practice or train the way he wanted to over the summer. This set him back and robbed him of the ability to play the rhythmic baseline tennis he relies on. Cilic made his push in Shanghai but was exhausted after making the semifinals in Basel. He had very little left in the tank at Paris-Bercy and then in the ATP Finals, where he lost a string of three-set matches. He will try to regroup here and build a successful 2018 campaign.
Kevin Anderson is the second seed at this event, ranked No. 14 in the world. Anderson had the moment of a lifetime in 2017, reaching his first major final at the U.S. Open before losing to Rafael Nadal. The achievement was the culmination of a steady uphill battle. Anderson made his first major quarterfinal at the U.S. Open in 2015 but then got injured and struggled for much of 2016. The 2017 season marked his rebound, and he will try to carry that forward.
Roberto Bautista Agut is the third seed as the defending champion. Bautista Agut is a hard-working and persistent player without eye-popping talent. He covers the court well and displays more focus than many of his opponents, using his fitness to his advantage.
Robin Haase is the fifth seed. He made the semifinals of the Montreal Masters last season and has shown signs of fulfilling his potential in the latter years of his career after many struggles. He could be more dangerous than many people might first think.
Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex
This is the new host of this tournament due to the move from Chennai to Pune. The larger facility plays host to several different sports in a sprawling setup, but the tennis section of this sports park is modest. The tennis complex has five hardcourts, the central stadium court and four side courts to facilitate this tournament. The main stadium court holds 4,200 people.
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