5 players to look out for at the Aircel Chennai Open

India’s only stop on the ATP World Tour, the Aircel Chennai Open, kicks off on the 4th of January in the Southern Indian capital. Nine of the ATP top 50 will be part of the event, while Indians Somdev Devvarman, Saketh Myneni and Sanam Singh will all vie to be part of the main draw at the event.Here are our top 5 players to watch out for at the tournament:

#5 Roberto Bautista Agut

25th ranked Bautista Agut of Spain began 2015 with the Aircel Chennai Open, where he progressed to the semi-finals before losing out to Aljaz Bedene of Britain, who will also be at this year’s tournament.

In 2014, Bautista Agut was awarded the title of the ATP’s Most Improved Player, and put in a series of strong performances in 2015 as well. Facing top-10 player Kei Nishikori at the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open, he lost in tight sets to the Japanese ace.

The Spaniard has also made several higher-ranked players drop sets – among them, 9th-ranked Milos Raonic at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.

Bautista Agut has been in the finals of the Aircel Chennai Open before, eventually losing the title to Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in 2013. Considering his experience with the tournament and his upswing in form, he looks to be a strong contender at the Aircel Chennai Open 2016.

#4 Benoit Paire

French ace Benoit Paire recently hit his career-high ranking of 19th, and was adjudicated the ATP’s Comeback Player of the year in 2015.

The 26-year-old had his biggest successes on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2015, winning two titles of three finals he has been in. He made the finals of the ATP 500 Rakuten Japan Open last year, eventually losing the title to Stan Wawrinka. Prior to this, he showed some resistance to the power of World No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Western and Southern Open, losing a close first set before eventually losing the match.

Paire won the ATP 250 SkiStar Swedish Open in 2015, beating Spain’s Tommy Robredo to the title. He played another Spaniard, the powerful Roberto Bautista Agut at the Round of 64 at Wimbledon last year, taking him to 5 sets.

Before this, Paire took on World No. 6 Tomas Berdych in the Round of 32 at the French Open, and although he did not win, he forced the in-form Czech to drop a set.

With an upswing in his form in the latter half of 2015, Paire will come into the year’s first tournament on a positive note.

#3 Kevin Anderson

South Africa’s Kevin Anderson is another player fans should look out for at the Aircel Chennai Open. The 12th-ranked ace may only have won one singles title in 2015, beating Frenchman and doubles specialist Pierre-Hugues Herbert to the title at the Winston-Salem Open, an ATP 250 event, but he showed plenty of skill throughout the year.

He held his own at the BNP Paribas Masters last year, playing Rafael Nadal in the Round of 16 where he won the first set and took the second to a tiebreak before Nadal eventually emerged victorious.

In perhaps his most thrilling finish of the year, Anderson met eventual champion Novak Djokovic at the Round of 16 at Wimbledon, and seriously tested the top-ranked Serb’s skill at the Championships. Leading the World No. 1 two sets to love as he won both via tie-break, Anderson would eventually lose in a five-setter that most would not have expected.

Anderson played Wawrinka twice last year, and although he lost one – the pair’s US Open quarterfinal meeting – in straight sets, he beat the Swiss the same way at the ATP 500 AEGON Championships in Queen’s Club.

#2 Borna Coric

He’s one of the ATP’s quickest-rising talents and a player even the top guns will look out for in the future.

Only 19 years old, Borna Coric is already making waves on the ATP circuit. After a straight-sets victory over former World No. 1 Rafael Nadal in Basel in 2014, Coric took on World No. 2 Andy Murray at the Dubai Duty Free Championships in 2015 and won, with the Scot suffering an ignominous straight sets defeat.

Coric also stretched several top players last year, and took on Wawrinka twice, one of their matches coming at last year’s edition of the Aircel Chennai Open. Although he lost in straight sets then, Coric redeemed himself somewhat against Wawrinka at the Cincinnati Masters later in the year, forcing the Swiss to drop the first set and taking the second set to a tiebreak.

If his current form is anything to go by, the teenager, who is currently ranked 44th, could pose a serious threat to the tournament’s giants.

#1 Stan Wawrinka

The Swiss ace’s ranking speaks for itself. Currently ranked 4th in the world, Wawrinka enjoyed a brilliant run of form in 2015, winning his second career Grand Slam at the French Open in May.

Wawrinka not only denied Novak Djokovic a calendar Grand Slam, but by defeating countryman Roger Federer in the quarterfinals, also ensured that for the first time in 10 years fans saw a final that featured neither Federer nor Rafael Nadal.

A key factor – Wawrinka is currently gunning for a hat-trick at the Aircel Chennai Open, having won the title in 2013 and 2014. Having beaten Belgian player Xavier Malisse to the title in 2011, 2015 was the Swiss’ third Aircel Chennai Open title overall.

In addition to his Slam victory, Wawrinka won two 500 titles last year – at the Rakuten Japan Open and the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament. The Swiss has done well at Grand Slams in 2015, and apart from his one win, made the semi-finals of two other Majors.

Before his French Open win, Wawrinka faced World No. 1 Djokovic at the semi-finals of the Australian Open, stretching the Serb to five sets before eventually losing out on a finals berth. He also progressed to the semi-finals of the US Open, before eventually losing to Federer.

Considering he has been in the Chennai final four times before and won on three of those occasions, Wawrinka is the firm favourite to win the 2016 Aircel Chennai Open.