Pune: Players from 24 countries to be seen in action at MahaOpen ATP Challenger Men’s Championships
Pune, 20th February 2026 : Australian Dane Sweeny, last year’s Australian Open doubles champion Jason Kublot will lead players from 24 countries at the PMRDA Powered Maha Open ATP Challenger 75 Men’s Tennis Championship organized by Maharashtra State Lawn tennis Association (MSLTA) in association with the Department of Sports and Youth Services Govt of Maharashtra, PCMC, PMC and PMDTA at the Mhalunge Balewadi Tennis Stadium
The premier high Level ATP Challenger which is sponsored by Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (PMRDA) under a Five year agreement will see top tennis players including Indian Davis Cup star Sumit Nagal in action at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex at Mhalunge Balewadi from Sunday February 22 to Sunday March, 1 2026.
The Pune Event is the third of a series of 3 ATP Challenger events being held in India. The previous tournaments were held at Chennai and Delhi.
“Providing high quality competition to Indian players at home is one of the main reasons for MSLTA and PMRDA getting involved and supporting this event said Mr Prashant Sutar President of MSLTA, the PMRDA Powered MahaOpen Challenger is another Feather in Cap of Indian Tennis Calendar organised by MSLTA, we are thrilled to organise this huge international event which goes a long way in promoting the image of the Pune Metropolis Region universally” he added
Organizing the PMR Challenger event is a continuation of a grand vision of MSLTA for tennis development and promotion in the Maharashtra and this follows successful completion of the L&T Mumbai Open WTA 125 K series, said Mr.Sunder Iyer Hon Secretary of MSLTA
Mr Sutar and Sunder lyer the organisers of the event added “We believe that by providing right opportunities and right moments our players can move to the next level, we discussed in detail and feel this is the way forward,
Apart from Sumit three other Indians will make it to the main draw via Wildcards
They further added it was a proud moment for Maharashtra to host another major tennis event, apart from BKJC cup in April 2024 last year till the end of March 2006 MSLTA will have hosted events worth over $3,75,000 (₹3.4 crores) which was among the highest in the country and this was possible with Government of Maharashtra support and corporate support we are happy that these events have helped our tennis players not only in Maharashtra but across India.
The main draw consists of 32 players – 23 direct acceptances, 3 wild cards, 6 qualifiers. Qualifying consists of 24 players with 4 wild cards.
On behalf of MSLTA and Indian Tennis fraternity we would like to thank PMRDA commissioner Shri Yogesh Mhase, PMC Commissioner Shri Naval Kishore Ram
Bhosale PCMC Commissioner Shri Shravan Hardikar and the Commissioner of Sports Sheetal Teli- Ugale for their continued Support to the event, he added
Mr Rogerio Santos of Portugal will be the ATP Supervisor for the event, Leena Nageshkar will be the Referee of the event, while Amit Deshpande will be the chief of Officials.
Other partners for the event apart from PMRDA, Dept of Sports and Youth Services will be Pune Municipal Corporation Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, Bisleri (Beverage Partner), Manipal Hospitals (Medical Partner), and Dunlop (Equipment Partner).
The timings of play will be from 11am onwards. Entry for spectators to witness the matches is free and we look forward to a great number of sports and tennis lovers to come to the stadium to witness the matches.
Following are the probable seeding list:
1. Sweeny Dane(AUS, 151), 2. Kubler Jason(AUS, 179), 3. Jay Clarke(GBR,186), 4. Gomez Federico Agustin(ARG, 197), 5. Crawford Oliver(GBR, 213), 6. Simakin Ilia(214), 7. Pavlovic Luka(FRA, 219), 8. Cina Federico(ITA, 225)
