Top seeds Leander Paes and Martin Damm of the Czech Republic have been drawn to take on Tomas Cibulec and David Skoch of the Czech Republic in the first round of the doubles event at the US $380,000 Chennai Open ATP tournament, starting on Monday.
The Indian duo of Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna have been granted a wild card and they will play Michael Kholmann (Germany) and Yves Allegro (Sui) in the doubles first round draw of 16.
Former Wimbledon champion, Australia's Pat Cash, who decided to pair with India's Karan Rastogi, will be playing the second seeded German duo of Rainer Schuttler and Alxander Waske.
Rastogi becomes the fourth Indian to get a wild card in the doubles draw after Paes, Amritraj and Bopanna.
"I am looking forward to play with Karan (Rastogi) who I have heard much about. I am happy to be back in Chennai where I played in 1997," said Cash, who will also be busy as a commentator during the event.
A thrilled Rastogi said, "It is a dream to play alongside a legend like Pat Cash. I will try to learn as much as possible from this great player. I am sure this experience will stand me in good stead for the future."
Former India Davis Cup captain Vijay Amritraj said, "It is a great opportunity for someone like Karan to play alongside a Wimbledon champion. This is once-in-a-life time chance and a priceless experience. Indian sports fans will get to witness a true champion in action."
In the singles event, Indian wild card entries Prakash Amritraj and Vishal Uppal are in for some tough tests.
Amritraj, ranked 289, is placed in the bottom half against Brazilian Recardo Mello while Delhi player Uppal (rank 526) is pitted against world number 46 Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic in the first round.
If Uppal's advances, his second round opponent would be Ivan Lijubicic of Croatia, brought in after Rafael Nadal pulled out, while second seeded Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic could take on Amritraj.
Vanek, a regular here, had scored a 6-2, 6-2 win over Amritraj in the first round in 2003, their last meeting in Chennai.
It also remains to be seen how many Indians among the 13 figuring in the qualifying event (for a draw of 32) would progress to the main draw.
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