Radulescu pull out benefits Paes

CHENNAI, April 4: He was a crowd favourite at the Gold Flake Open tennis last year. And many spectators sympathised with him when he lost th...

CHENNAI, April 4: He was a crowd favourite at the Gold Flake Open tennis last year. And many spectators sympathised with him when he lost the final to Mikael Tillstrom after a keenly fought and ultimately controversial match. Certainly, Alex Radulescu will be missed at this year’s tournament, which commences on Monday.

The affable and talented Bucharest-born German, currently ranked just outside the top 100, withdrew from the tournament on Friday because of a leg injury he sustained a few days ago. He had indicated last year that he would love to come back and have another tilt at the title. But that is not to be.However, Radulescu’s withdrawal — the first among the 25 direct acceptances — also means that Paes now secures a place in the main draw and no longer requires the wild card awarded to him on Wednesday.

At the time of releasing the entry list about five weeks ago, tournament director Brian Cooney had said that if there was even one withdrawal, then Paes would get a direct entry. The 159th rankedOrlin Stanoytchev is the last of the direct entries and, at that time, Paes was ranked 162.

Story continues below this ad

With Paes getting a direct entry and Mahesh Bhupathi obtaining a wild card, Cooney on Friday announced the two other wild card entries, Bjorn Phau (Germany) and Wesley Whitehouse (South Africa).

Whitehouse, ranked 473, turned 19 on March 13 and is regarded as among the most promising young players on the ATP Tour. Last year, he won the junior Wimbledon singles and was runner-up in the doubles. He also won the Japan junior singles and the Italian junior doubles titles, and was a singles and doubles finalist at the Australian Open junior tournament.

Phau is another player on the rise and one person who has a lot of respect for his potential is Boris Becker. Phau is both the German indoor and outdoor champion, and he is a member of Becker’s Mercedes junior touring team.

Phau will be coming to Chennai with Becker following the Davis Cup first round tie against South Africa. He is expected to shave many rankingplaces off his current 672.