Tata Open-2002 tennis logo unveiled

Andrei Pavel, Thomas Johansson, Fabrice Santoro and Dominik Hrbaty, along with Indian ace Leander Paes, are among the leading players who will be seen in action in the forthcoming US $400,000 Tata Open tennis championships, to be held in Madras, from December 31.

Unveiling the logo 'Tata Open-2002' for the tournament, Tata Sons' executive director R Gopalakrishnan said: "Our sponsorship of the Tata Open is yet another example of the group's long-standing relationship with sports in India."

He said the sponsorship under the same logo may continue for the next three years.

The championship, which is being hosted in Madras for the sixth consecutive year, is the country's only ATP international series, where the singles winner will carry prize-money of US $54,000 while the runner-up is assured of US $31,500.

The doubles winners will pick US $26,500.

Of the 32 participating players, four will be from wild cards while another four will come from the qualifying rounds.

This is Tata's second major international sports event in India during the year. In May, the group had brought some world's best-known names in tennis, like Bjorn Borg, Guillermo Vilas, Vijay Amritraj and Henri Leconte to play in the Tata Tennis Legends' tournament in Bombay.