CHENNAI OPEN 2026 - Frederico ousts Federico to claim the ATP Challenger

The 6th edition of Chennai Open (ATP Challenger 50 Tournament) took place from 09 February 2026 to 15 February 2026 at SDAT Stadium, Nungambakkam, Chennai. The event had two categories - Mens Singles and Mens Doubles. A total of 32 players participated in the singles while a total of 16 teams participated in the doubles. With players from 14 different countries participated in this Challenger with USD 63000 total prize pool, this event marked the beginning of ATP Challenger Tours in India followed by similar tournaments at Delhi and Pune. The event was hosted by Tamil Nadu Tennis Association under the name COROMANDEL CHENNAI OPEN 2026 with Coramandel, G Square, Lancor Holdings, ACT Fibernet, Apollo Hospitals and The Park Hotels supporting the event. The President of TNTA, the legendary Vijay Amritaraj mentioned that that this tournament is a bedrock of player development program aimed at propelling Tamil Nadu’s juniors onto the global stage.

Mens Singles
The Mens Singles was a 32-player Main Draw with 21 direct acceptances, 3 wild card entries and 6 qualifiers, from a 24-player Qualifying Draw. Jay Clarke (ATP 178) was the top seed in men';s singles. The Indian Challenge had India’s top-ranked star Sumit Nagal (ATP 281) seeded eight. He was joined by wildcards are M Sasikumar, Sidhartha Rawat, and Manas Dhamne. SD Prajwal Dev, A.Vishal Balsekar, Nitin Kumar Sinha, Aryan Lakshmanan and Ishaque Eqbal joined from the qualifiers. 

The Indian challenge was over in the Round of 16 where Sumit, Sasikumar and Sasikumar bowed out. Top seed Jay Clarke lost in the opening round to Greek player Laonis Xilas. The final four to compete in the semi finals were 2nd seed Federico Gomez of Argentina, 4th seed Ilia Simakin, 6th seed Frederico Silva of Portugal and unseeded Maks Kasnikowski from Poland. 

While Frederico had a 6-4, 6-2 win over Ilia, Federico had to fight out for a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 win over maxs. The finals was well contested and Frederico managed to just pip ahead of Federico with the score card of 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. The title marked left handed Frederico Ferreira Silva’s (ATP 255) first ATP Challenger singles crown. He earned 50 ATP ranking points and took home prize money of USD 9,500 (INR 8,64,500). Federico Agustin Gomez, a four-time ATP Challenger Tour champion and ranked No. 196 in the world, saved four match points in the second set tie-break before edging it 12-10 to level the contest. However Frederico came back strongly in the third set to win the Challenger. 

Mens Doubles
In Men's Doubles, top seed Pruchya Isaro of Thailand and Niki Poonacha won the tournament defeating Jay Clarke of Great Britain and M Sasikumar of India 6-4, 6-4 to emerge as champions. 

The tournament was well organised by Tamil Nadu Tennis Association. The details of tournament can be accessed here. 

(Images Courtesy - TN Tennis Association)