India's only ATP World Tour event "will now be known as Maharashtra Open," with event owner IMG shifting the tournament to Pune by signing a five-year deal with the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association, according to the PTI. The Tamil Nadu Tennis Association confirmed that IMG canceled the contract which was extended until '19 early this year. TNTA CEO Hiten Joshi explained that the sponsorship for the tournament "became an issue leading up to the cancellation." TNTA informed IMG after this year's edition in January that Aircel will no longer be the title sponsor for the Chennai Open as it will be merging its telecom operations with Anil Ambani's Reliance Company. The season-opening Maharashtra Open will be a $550,000 event, which is $44,270 more than the Chennai Open (PTI, 7/20). In Chennai, Swaroop Swaminathan reported IMG initially looked at Singapore, which hosts the year-end WTA Finals, "as a possible option," but the MSLTA "entered the fray to keep the event in India." That feeling "was also backed by the State goverment, headed by Devendra Fadnavis." While a verbal agreement has been reached with MSLTA, IMG is "yet to formally sign on the dotted line." But that "is scheduled to happen within the week" (NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, 7/20). The PTI also reported MSLTA Secretary Sunder Iyer and Tournament Dir Prashant Sutar "were equally upbeat at the prospect of hosting the ATP tournament." They said, "We have the best tennis infrastructure in the country. We will strive our best to make the world's best players and our own, feel at home" (PTI, 7/20).