Hewitt, Safin to play in Mumbai Open

The Kingfisher Mumbai Open, as Kingfisher Airlines Chairman and CEO Vijay Mallya put it, is getting bigger and better.

Last year, the inaugural Mumbai ATP event ushered in rising players on the Tour, like Tommy Robredo, Dmitry Tursunov and Tomas Berdych.

This time the organisers have gone in for more established names to lure the crowds.

Marat Safin, Llyeton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis are set to hit the marquee at his year's Open, and going by the recorded interviews of the trio, all are looking forward to their "first visit to India".

The tournament, to be played at the Cricket Club of India from September 24, has been upgraded from US $375,000 to US $416,000.

"We want to bring different players for the event," said tournament director Gaurav Natekar of the fact that none of the big names that featured in last year's Open will be returning.

"People in India are more familiar with names like Hewitt and Safin; they are crowd-pullers. They are not just good players but great personalities to and will bring a touch of glamour to the event."

Hewitt, a two-time Grand Slam champion, has been championing the cause for holding more tournaments in Asia, seeing the potential for expansion of the game on the continent.

"It's my first time in India," said Hewitt, in an audio-visual during Tuesday's press conference in Mumbai.

"I've watched some of India's cricket matches and am looking forward to playing there. There are some big names involved and there are no easy tournaments any more on the Tour, but I hope to be there on the last weekend."

Safin has also won two Grand Slams -- the 2000 US Open and the 2005 Australian Open, while Baghdatis's best result in Grand Slams is the final of the 2006 Australian Open.

Along with the big three, world number 13 Richard Gasquet of France, Finland's Jarkko Niemenen (26), Olivier Rochus (55) of Belgium and veteran Frenchman Fabrice Santoro (43) have lined-up for the event.

"It is unlikely that we will have any more stars," said the former India Davis Cup player.

"But there's always the chance, if someone wants to use the event for practice or get some points for the season-ending Masters (Shanghai) event. In that case, we might have to give away a wildcard; but we'll cross the bridge when we get to it. As of now we are looking to give all the three wildcards to Indian players."

The Mumbai Open is scheduled right after the Davis Cup weekend and clashes with the Bangkok Open, which has higher prize-money -- US $ 550,000. Most of the top names came in last year straight after their Cup engagements, mainly in Europe, and struggled in the humid conditions. Ironically, Tursunov, who was most vocal about it, emerged champion, winning his first ATP title.

The timing of the event came under further criticism as is was not clear of the monsoons. Last year's final was postponed by a day and hence was not telecast.

"We really cannot do anything about the timing because the ATP calendar is full and planned well in advance," defended Mallya, whose company is the title sponsor for the first three years.

"The players who will come after the Davis Cup will have a Wednesday evening start," added Natekar. "That's the provision ATP makes so that the players will have enough time to acclimatise."

Also taking lessons from the 2006 tournament, the organisers are planning to hike the publicity -- plan road shows and market the event better this time around.

Despite being the inaugural year and reasonable ticket prices, the last tournament was unable to bring in a large crowd except for on the weekend.