Love all ATP Chennai Open Tennis Tournament - 2007

Chennai , known for its Tennis lovers, has often been termed as the Tennis Capital of India, having turned out world class tennis player s like Ramanathan Krishnan, Anand Amritraj, Vijay Amritraj and Laender Paes. It is no wonder that the city of Chennai awaited with bated breath the ATP Tennis Tournament of 2007 in which top notch players like Nadal, Nalbandian, Moya, Malisse, Benneteau etc. were to play.

Murugappa Group was the Gold Sponsor for the ATP Chennai Open Tennis Tournament, the third time in succession. Now in its 12th year, this tennis tournament has grown substantially over a period, attracting talent from across the globe.

Once it commenced, there were surprises thrown in through the week long tournament, keeping high the feverish pitch of excitement. Kristian Pless, ranked 84th saw his first win over top ten player, Nalbandian on the first day. India's Karan Rastogi got set to face world champion No 2, Rafael Nadal as he beat Thiago Alves of Brazil. Nadal however stole the match against Rastogi in straight sets 6-4,6-1. While Carlos Moya entered the semi-finals, he was beaten by Stefan Koubek. Xavier Malisse put out World champion Nadal to enter the final round of the championship. The court was set for the final round of the doubles match between duo Nadal and Salva_Vidal and the duo Malisse and Dick Norman. Xavier Malisse created history on the day of the Finals by clinching both the singles and doubles title. He beat Koubek in straight sets 6-1,6-3. Later partnered with Dick Norman they beat Nadal and Salva_Vidal 7-6(4), 7-6(4)

.Murugappa Group, as a Gold sponsor, gave Rs 50 lakhs and the companies which participated in the sponsorship were Parryware ROCA, Cholamandalam DBS and TI Cycles. Branding included signages at center court, on-court and other promotional material. Tennis Star 'Bjorn Phau' launched the TI Cycles fitness equipment. As all good things must come to a close, so dropped the curtain on what is seen as India's largest tennis event since 1997.