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Rio Open to feature four of world’s top 20 players

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Rio de Janeiro: The 2015 Rio Open will feature four of the world’s top 20 players as ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

Spain’s No.3-ranked Rafael Nadal and No.10-ranked David Ferrer will be joined by fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo and Italy’s Fabio Fognini, the world’s No.17 and No.19, respectively, in the second edition of the tournament, to be held Feb 16 to 22, as per reports.

Nadal, who won the inaugural edition of the Rio Open in 2014 by defeating Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov, will once again headline the tournament to be played on outdoor clay courts at the exclusive Jockey Club in Rio de Janeiro’s tony Gavea district, organisers announced Wednesday.

Spain will be fielding a total of eight players in the year’s first South American tournament of the ATP World Tour 500 series, including Nicolas Almagro, Marcel Granollers, Albert Ramos, Pablo Andujar and Pablo Carreno Busta, in addition to Nadal and Ferrer.

The list of confirmed players also includes Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer, Federico Delbonis, Diego Schwartzman, Juan Monaco and Carlos Berlocq, Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo and Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas.

Host Brazil only have one player competing in the event, national champion Thomas Bellucci, ranked 64 in the world. Last year, Bellucci lost to Ferrer in the quarterfinals.

The full list of 32 competitors will be completed pending qualifiers held prior to the Open, from which four players will classify.

Of the remaining five, four will be invited by the organisers and one will be chosen by the ATP.

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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia

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The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.

Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.

Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”

Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.

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