The 2008 Chennai Open was a men's

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

tournament played on outdoor

hard court A hardcourt (or hard court) is a surface or floor on which a sport is played, most usually in reference to tennis courts. It is typically made of rigid materials such as asphalt or concrete, and covered with acrylic resins to seal the surface and ...

s. It was the 13th edition of the

Chennai Open Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, and was part of the International Series of the

2008 ATP Tour The 2008 ATP Tour was the global elite men's professional tennis circuit organised by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the 2008 tennis season. The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organized by the Association of ...

. It took place at the

SDAT Tennis Stadium Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu Tennis Stadium, commonly known as SDAT Stadium, sometimes also called Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium, is located in Nungambakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, and played host for the Chennai Open ATP Tenn ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, India, from 31 December 2007 through 6 January 2008. The singles draw was headlined by

Association of Tennis Professionals The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, an ...

(ATP) No. 2, three-time French Open champion and 2007 Chennai semifinalist

Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...

, 2007 Paris Masters semifinalist

Marcos Baghdatis Marcos Baghdatis ( el, Μάρκος Παγδατής, ar, ماركوس بغداتيس; ; born 17 June 1985) is a Cypriot former professional tennis player. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimble ...

, and 2007 US Open quarterfinalist and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

and 2005 Chennai winner

Carlos Moyá Carlos Moyá Llompart (; born 27 August 1976) is a Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player. He was the French Open singles champion in 1998 and was the singles runner-up at the 1997 Australian Open. In 2004, he was part of his country's suc ...

. Also competing in the field were 2007 St. Petersburg semifinalist

Mikhail Youzhny Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian retired professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Assoc ...

, 2007 Metz semifinalist

Nicolas Mahut Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut (; born 21 January 1982) is a French professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having completed the career Grand Slam with victories at the ...

Jürgen Melzer Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a younger brother, Geral ...

Werner Eschauer Werner Eschauer (born 26 April 1974) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. Tennis career In his first 12 years as a pro, Eschauer found little success, winning just 7 ATP-level matches and cracking the top-100 for just a few weeks ...

and

Marc Gicquel Marc Gicquel (born 30 March 1977) is a former professional male tennis player from France. Tennis career Gicquel turned pro in 1999. He made his ATP Tour singles debut at the 2002 Open 13 – Singles, 2002 Open 13 tournament on hard courts in ...

. Fourth-seeded

won the singles title.

Notable stories

Longest three-setter

The semifinal that opposed fellow

Majorcan Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autono ...

and

entered

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organis ...

history as the longest three-setter since a 1993

Andrei Cherkasov Andrei Gennadievich Cherkasov (; born 4 July 1970) is a former professional tennis player from Russia. Career Born in Ufa, Soviet Union, Cherkasov first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding junior player. In 1987, he was ranke ...

win over

Andrea Gaudenzi Andrea Gaudenzi (; born 30 July 1973) is an Italian former tennis player and the current chairman of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) since January 2020. Gaudenzi was born in Faenza, Italy, in the province of Ravenna, and turned p ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

on the score of 6–7, 7–6, 7–5. Both matches lasted three hours and fifty-four minutes. Moya and Nadal's match featured three tie-breaks, with Moya looking on course for victory in the second set, gaining four match points, before Nadal caught up and won the set decider 10–8. An aggressive Moya kept coming to the net, while Nadal's passing shots kept him in the match. Moya had yet another opportunity to win as he served for the match at 5–4 in the third, but Nadal prevented him to capitalize again, eventually claiming a 6–7, 7–6, 7–6 victory. After the match Moya commented: "the crowd reaction was unbelievable, this is one of the things that motivates you to go on at 31 years of age." Nadal admitted it was an "emotional match" and said of Moya "I don't remember the last time I saw him play so well."

Finals

Singles

defeated

, 6–0, 6–1 *It was Mikhail Youzhny's 1st title of the year, and his 4th overall.

Doubles

Sanchai Ratiwatana Sanchai Ratiwatana ( th, สรรค์ชัย รติวัฒน์, ), nicknamed Tong (, ; born January 23, 1982 in Bangkok), is a professional tennis player from Thailand. He turned professional in 2004. In 2007, Sanchai and his twin br ...

Sonchat Ratiwatana Sonchat Ratiwatana ( th, สนฉัตร รติวัฒน์, ), nicknamed Ton (, ; born January 23, 1982 in Bangkok) is a professional tennis player from Thailand. In 2007, Sonchat and his twin brother Sanchai Ratiwatana won their first ...

defeated

, 6–4, 7–5

References

External links

Official website

Singles draw

Doubles draw
{{2008 ATP Tour