Bhupathi gets singles wild card for Gold Flake Open

Doubles ace Mahesh Bhupathi has been granted a wild card for the singles event in the Gold Flake Open 2001 tournament, to be held at the Nungambakkam stadium in Madras, from January 1 to 7, 2001.

Tournament director Sheila Maniam on Thursday said Bhupathi's presence will add more star power to an already superb tournament line-up at the opening event of the ATP Tour.

"I was unable to get to Bangalore for the Gold Flake ATP World doubles championship, but it is great to see that Mahesh has started to get back the power and touch he had in his game," she said.

"I know he did say that his serve and overhead needs to develop some more but he is confident that it will come with time. I am truly delighted, as I am sure all Indian tennis fans are, that Mahesh is fully fit and will be part of the line-up at the Open in January."

The last time the 26-year-old was seen in action at the Open was in 1999. He missed the 2000 edition because of a shoulder injury.

"The 2000 season was a tough time because of my shoulder injury and I was unable to play a lot of tournaments that I really enjoyed," said Bhupathi. "But now everything is alright and I am looking forward to playing in Gold Flake Open 2001 and to pick up where I had left off."