Tata Open Maharashtra: Defending champion Jiri Vesely faces Lorenzo Musetti hurdle

Jiri Vesely who had won the ATP 250 Series event last held in 2020, has been seeded fourth and could run into Lorenzo Musetti in the semis.

Czechia Tennis player, Jiri Vesely has been drawn in the same half as the second seed and Itlay’s sensation Lorenzo Musetti at the Tata Open Maharashtra men’s tennis event, starting on Sunday.

Jiri Vesely who had won the ATP 250 Series event last held in 2020, has been seeded fourth and could run into Lorenzo Musetti in the semis.

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Russia’s Aslan Karatsev is the no. 1 player in the $494,000 event, returning to the calendar after a year’s break due to the pandemic.

The 28 player size draw could not have been more solid for the Indian hopefuls. India’s Yuki Bhambri will clash with Slovakia’s Jozef Kovalik in his first round, whereas India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran will go one on one with Germany’s Daniel Altmaier on Monday.

India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan could run into Bhambri in the second round but first, he must beat Itlay’s Stefano Travaglia on Monday. India’s Arjun Kadhe will be playing against Portugal’s Joao Sousa on the same day.

In the doubles, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Rohan Bopanna who had won the title in Adelaide at the beginning of the season, have been ranked second and will start their campaign against the American duo, James Cerretani and Nicholas Monroe on Monday.

Bhambri and Divij Sharan clash with Austria’s Dennis Novak and Joao Sousa, while Kadhe and Purav Raja will face Moldova’s Radu Albot and Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis.

In the qualifying, home wildcards Mukund Sasikumar and Manish Sureshkumar could be clashing in the second round.