Chennai Open (ATP Challenger): Dates, Tickets & Venue (Chennai)

A Challenger week in February

Chennai’s tennis week takes place in February 2027. The tournament sits on the ATP Challenger Tour, the level just below the main ATP circuit. Players come here for ranking points they need to reach Grand Slam qualifying.

The field leans towards Asia. Players from Japan, Taiwan and Korea are regulars, and they compete alongside India’s own singles and doubles names. Recent editions filled a full Monday-to-Sunday week:

• 2024: 5–11 February
• 2026: 9–15 February

At a Challenger the early rounds and the final are spread across the week. Most local fans save their visit for the weekend, when the semi-finals and final are on court.

Courts and seats in Nungambakkam

In recent years the tournament’s home has been the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Nungambakkam. This complex is also where the city’s ATP tour event lived for two decades. It is a hard-court venue with a main show court and open outside courts, and on the outside courts you watch from a few metres behind the baseline.

The Tamil Nadu Tennis Association organises the tournament and is the source for dates, venue and ticket information. Challenger crowds are smaller than tour-level crowds. On a weekday you can often walk between courts and see three matches in an afternoon.

Most people get there by app cab or auto-rickshaw because Nungambakkam’s roads clog at peak hours. Thousand Lights station on the Chennai Metro Blue Line and Nungambakkam station on the suburban rail line both serve the district. Either one is a short auto ride from the courts.

Watching tennis in Chennai heat

February is the dry season in Chennai. Afternoons are hot and humid even at this time of year, and the sun beats straight onto the uncovered stands. Day-session regulars usually bring:

• a cap or wide-brimmed hat
• sunscreen and a refillable water bottle
• light cotton clothing
• a small towel for shaded seats that have been sitting in the sun

Evening matches are cooler and draw the most people. Office workers come straight from work, and the show court fills up from late afternoon.

Courtside manners and paying your way

The usual tennis rules apply here, and the crowd sticks to them. You move to or from your seat only at changeovers or when a set ends. Spectators stay quiet once the server bounces the ball, and they keep the camera flash off.

Most payments in Chennai go through UPI. Food stalls and auto drivers scan a QR code from your phone, but international visitors without an Indian bank account usually carry small cash notes too. App cabs take international cards.

After the matches, Nungambakkam has plenty to eat within a few minutes’ drive. South Indian tiffin restaurants serve dosa, idli and filter coffee late into the evening. Khader Nawaz Khan Road, close by, is the district’s street of cafés and boutiques. Visitors staying for the week usually book hotels in Nungambakkam or along Anna Salai so the ride to the courts stays short.

Locals call it simply “the Chennai Open”. The name comes from the city’s years as a tour stop in the first week of January, the era that brought Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka to these courts.