Indian teenage tennis player Manas Dhamne is set to compete against Japan’s eighth seed Rio Noguchi in the first round of the ATP Delhi Open 2026. The event will take place at the DLTA Complex in Delhi from February 16 to 22, hosting a field of 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams vying for the title.
Dhamne, who recently broke into the ATP top 500 rankings and secured his third ITF singles title earlier this month, is widely regarded as one of India’s most promising young talents. Opposite him, Rio Noguchi holds a global ranking of No. 246 and boasts two ATP Challenger Tour singles championships.
Overview of Key Singles and Doubles Players in the Tournament
India’s top-ranked player, Sumit Nagal, coming off a Davis Cup victory against the Netherlands, will face Spain’s David Jorda Sanchis in his opening match. Other notable first-round singles contests include Karan Singh taking on seventh seed Daniel Michalski from Poland, and Digvijay Singh competing against Petr Bar Biryukov.
The singles draw is led by top seed Dane Sweeny of Australia, ranked No. 138 worldwide, with second seed Rei Sakamoto of Japan holding rank No. 174. Nine Indian players, including Davis Cup participant Ramkumar Ramanathan, will contest the singles qualifying rounds. The qualifying draw, composed of 24 players, features Denis Yevseyev, ranked 362, and former Australian Open semifinalist Hyeon Chung from South Korea. Qualifying matches begin Sunday, while main draw matches start Monday, February 16.
In the doubles category, top seeds Siddhant Banthia of India and Bulgaria’s Alexander Donski will face the pairing of Francis Casey Alcantara from the Philippines and Zimbabwe’s Courtney Lock. The second-seeded duo, India’s Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha and Thailand’s Pruchya Isaro, recent champions at the Chennai Open ATP Challenger doubles and debutants at the Australian Open, will meet the Indian team of S.D. Prajwal Dev and Nitin Kumar Sinha, revisiting their Chennai Open semi-final showdown. Poonacha was runner-up in last year’s Delhi Open doubles alongside Zimbabwe’s Jonny Lock.
The all-Indian pair Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Ramkumar Ramanathan, seeded fourth in doubles, will compete against Great Britain’s Jay Clarke and Belgium’s Michael Geerts in the tournament’s opening round.
Wild Cards and Defending Champions in Doubles Event
Two Indian doubles pairs received wild cards: Divij Sharan with Karan Singh, and Saketh Myneni with Digvijay Singh. Sharan and Singh will challenge the duo of Dimitar Kuzmanov from Bulgaria and Denis Yevseyev from Kazakhstan, while Myneni and Digvijay Singh face the Indo–Polish partnership of Adil Kalyanpur and Daniel Michalski. Rio Noguchi, the reigning Delhi doubles champion, returns to defend his title with a new partner, Switzerland’s Luca Castelnuovo.
Importance of ATP Delhi Open for Indian Tennis
Rohit Rajpal, President of the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association, emphasized the significance of the tournament for local players, stating,
“Events like the ATP Delhi Open give Indian players a genuine platform to test themselves against strong international competition and earn valuable ranking points at home. We’re excited to see young talents like Manas Dhamne, Karan Singh and others compete on this stage, and we’re proud to host this Challenger event in Delhi once again.”
Rajpal’s remarks underline the event’s role in nurturing domestic talent.
The ATP Delhi Open has a history of producing notable champions, including all-Indian doubles winners Saketh Myneni and Sanam Singh in 2015, and Yuki Bhambri paired with Mahesh Bhupathi in 2016. In singles, Somdev Devvarman remains the only Indian to win the title, securing back-to-back championships in 2014 and 2015.
Ranking Points and Prize Money Details for Participants
This tournament forms part of the ATP Challenger 75 series, awarding 75 ranking points to both singles and doubles champions. Doubles runners-up receive 50 points, while the singles runner-up earns 44 points. Prize money allocation includes $17,000 for the singles winner and $9,600 for the runner-up. Doubles champions will share a prize of $4,980, with runners-up splitting $2,880.
The points and prize structure aim to provide meaningful incentives for both established international players and emerging Indian talent, contributing to the sport’s growth nationally.
