Tamil Nadu Tennis Association plans to host a WTA event for Chennai in 2020

"A few days after I took up the reins at TNTA in September, I made a request to the WTA to host a tournament here, probably in February after the Australian Open. We have already approached the government for support and they have happily agreed. The budget will be half of what we needed for Chennai Open, so it is estimated at around Rs 6-7 crore. We are still in talks to finalise the details," Amritraj said.

The Chennai Open was forced to shift base to Pune last year due to dwindling spectatorship and big-ticket participants missing from the event off-late. But with this reinvigorated push to host a WTA 250 event, Amritraj is planning to bring back a major event to Chennai.

Amritraj also added that he first planned to host an ATP 125 event but later decided to make it big and ensure that both participants and spectators are really encouraged to attend the event and ultimately make it an annual event.

"I don't remember having a Legends' tournament in our city so I am really looking forward to having one. We are trying to have players like Mark Philippoussis, Goran Ivanisevic, Richard Krajicek, Pat Rafter and a few more. I want players who have played in the same era. But then we have to see their schedules. They have television commitments, clinics, other obligations," he said.