“Think he is a man who keeps his word”: Prashant Sutar, the tournament director for the Tata Open.

However, the fifth Tata Open Maharashtra had attracted a strong field of players. Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, led the singles draw and drew a large crowd to Pune’s Balewadi Stadium during his one-match appearance before withdrawing due to a knee injury. In the meantime, the doubles field was led by Rajeev Ram, who became the oldest player to achieve the rank of world no. 1.
After revealing their conversation at the French Open, tournament director Prashant Sutar revealed that he hopes to see Novak Djokovic at the event, which will feature the final on Saturday.
All three of the Big Three have played in India. However, neither Djokovic nor Roger Federer competed in a Challenger or ATP tour event in the country, in contrast to Rafael Nadal. In fact, all three participated in the International Tennis Premier League in 2014.
However, Nadal has also participated in the ATP 250 event in India, which was held in Chennai at the time. He had even made it to the final in 2008, where he was defeated in straight sets by Mikhail Youzhny.
Sutar wants to see Djokovic at the Pune tournament now that Nadal has checked that box and Federer has retired.
Their participation in the Australian Open is the primary issue. Novak is extremely particular about his activities, meals, and schedule. Additionally, I am unsure if foreigners without vaccinations are permitted in India. Are they not? he said while laughing during an interview with the media at the Tata Open on Friday.
Sutar went on to say that he has spoken with Djokovic 21 times over the past five years, the most recent of which was at the 2022 French Open, and that Djokovic has told him that he will one day play in the Tata Open.
Novak topped our list. I won’t tell you the numbers, but whatever we would have spent, we would have made up for it with other revenues. He stated that he would have seriously considered moving to Pune if he hadn’t gone to Australia. I had personally met him at the French Open.
I sat down with him and his agent to talk. He has stated that he will definitely visit Pune one day, and I have been meeting him for the past five years. He made the revelation, I guess he is a man of his words, and one day we will see him play his tournament.
Djokovic is currently preparing to win his tenth Australian Open title after his visa ban was lifted. He is currently competing in the Adelaide International 1 competition, where he placed fourth.