Chennai Open: Dangerous floater Blanco now relishes coaching

CHENNAI: Paris has always been a forgettable destination for Pete Sampras, professionally.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion's 2001 trip probably figures high on the list of French Open memories that he would like to forget. The then 24 year-old Galo Blanco, one of the lesser Spanish lights who had gained notoriety after his shock win over Pat Rafter in the opening round of the 2000 US Open, sent Sampras whimpering out in the second round in just about two hours.
While one would like to assume that broaching the idea of recounting the fleeting moments of glory would be met with a sunny smile followed by a mellifluous narration, Blanco who's currently accompanying his 19 year-old Russian ward Karen Khachanov for Chennai Open to the city, chooses to be anything but predictable. "I'm a coach now, no longer a player. It was really long time ago and I remember very little of it. Sampras is obviously one of the greatest players in tennis history and I was more than glad to have won against him," he says.
Blanco has also played coach to two of the current top-20 players ­ Milos Raonic and Feliciano Lopez. Raonic, who begun his meteoric rise in the rankings under Blanco's tutelage, split with him in 2013. " All relationships do come to an end at some point. So after our three-year association both of us felt that it was in our best interests to part ways. He's doing well on the tour and I'm happy for him."
Byes for big ones
The top four seeds, Stan Wawrinka, Kevin Anderson, Benoit Paire and Roberto Bautista Agut, have been handed first-round byes at the Chennai Open draw on Saturday.
In the doubles section, seasoned warhorse Leander Paes along with his 100th partner Granollers, will face the Swiss-Spanish combine of Stan Wawrinka and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez while the Mahesh Bhupathi and Gilles Muller duo will take on Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram in their respective opening matches.