Tata Open tennis | A chance for Indians to hold contrasting
Benoit Paire is a much-loved man in these parts. The Frenchman’s thrill-a-minute persona, a combination of some outrageous shot-making and his spontaneously combustible nature, have routinely kept Indian tennis fans on the edge of their seats. But until such a time the showman is on show — not until Wednesday — it will be the turn of a bunch of Indians led by Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Sumit Nagal to shine in the limelight as the Tata Open Maharashtra gets underway at the Balewadi Stadium here from Monday. Five of them will be in action over the next two days, including wild cards Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sasi Kumar Mukund and Arjun Kadhe. For Prajnesh and Nagal in particular, the tournament will be an important marker. Prajnesh entered last year’s edition as India’s top-ranked player (107) and has done modestly well to retain that position and a ranking in the vicinity (123 as on Sunday). But having scaled a high of 75 last April, the 30-year-old will no doubt want more. “The goal is to climb as fast as possible and then eventually go back to the ATP tour like the tournament here,” said Prajnesh. “Since the second…