Vijay Amritraj confirms Chennai will host ATP Challenger event in 2025

Vijay Amritraj inaugurated a stand at the SDAT stadium in Chennai.

Indian tennis great Vijay Amritraj has confirmed that Chennai will remain the host city for an ATP Challenger Tour event for the third straight year in 2025. Amritraj, the current president of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association, spoke about the possibility of an ATP or a WTA event in 2026. 

The last ATP event was held in the city in 2017, while a WTA 250 tournament made its way to Chennai in 2022.

The 70-year-old Amritraj shed light on the possibility of a tour-level event in an interview with Sportstar. He was honoured by the Tamil Nadu State Government by the renaming of the North Stand of the centre court as the ‘Vijay Amritraj Pavilion.’

In a fitting tribute to the remarkable achievements of our tennis legend Thiru #VijayAmritraj, the Government of Tamil Nadu, under the visionary leadership of our Honourable Chief Minister @mkstalin, has named and inaugurated the 'Vijay Amritraj Pavilion' at the SDAT’s Chennai… pic.twitter.com/cc5qVfwFxn

— Udhay (@Udhaystalin) October 1, 2024

On being quizzed about the comments by top players regarding the tightly packed schedule, Amritraj had this to say. ‘The best thing about tennis is you have a choice. The nine Masters events and the four Slams account for 13 events, and there are 52 weeks in a year.’

‘Federer played 12-14 events in a calendar year. Alcaraz and Sinner are free to commit to whatever they want and make more money than anyone,’ the former tennis player went on to add.

Vijay Amritraj, along with Leander Paes, are the only two Asian inductees of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In July 2024, at a ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island, the tennis legend was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Amritraj won 15 singles and 13 doubles titles on the ATP Tour. Eight of those doubles titles were won alongside his brother Anand. In 1980, he attained a career-high singles ranking of No. 18. Besides leading India to two Davis Cup finals (1974, 1987), he earned victories over players such as Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Illie Nastase, and Stan Smith. 

The second of three Amritraj brothers – Vijay also played a cameo role in the 1983 James Bond movie, ‘Octopussy’ as Bond’s aide alongside Roger Moore and Desmond Llewelyn. Amritraj is the only ATP player to grace the tennis courts and the silver screen.

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