Chennai, Feb 9 (PTI) Three Indian players will make their ATP Challenger Tour main draw debuts after coming through the final round of qualifying on Monday at the Chennai Open.
The most dramatic win of the day came from 20-year-old Aryan Lakshmanan, who saved two match points while trailing Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta 7-6, 5-4. The left-hander fired 13 aces and turned the match around to claim a 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 win in just under three hours.
The 23-year-old Aditya Vishal Balsekar, ranked 1401 in the world, also came through a three-set battle against third seed Timofei Derepasko. In a match that saw 14 breaks of serve, Balsekar knocked out the World No. 675 Derepasko 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.
Another Indian to reach his maiden ATP Challenger main draw was 28-year-old
Ishaque Eqbal, who advanced when Siddhant Banthia retired while trailing 7-5, 1-0.
SD Prajwal Dev and Nitin Kumar Sinha made it five Indian qualifiers out of a possible six after beating their countrymen in straight sets. Dev registered a 6-1, 6-4 win over Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam, while Sinha advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Adil Kalyanpur.
Malaysia’s top-ranked player Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong was the only foreigner to come through the qualifying draw. The second seed in qualifying scored a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over India’s Raghav Jaisinghani.
In the only main draw singles match scheduled for Monday, Australia’s Philip Sekulic scored a 6-3, 7-6 win over Great Britain’s Alastair Gray to book his place in the Round of 16.
First-round doubles action also got underway, with third seeds Dev/Sinha registering a 7-6, 6-1 win over Petr Bar Biryukov/Ilia Simakin to move into the quarter-finals.
Great Britain’s Jay Clarke, the top seed in singles, teamed up with India’s Mukund Sasikumar to score a 6-3, 6-4 win over Lakshmanan/Balsekar to also reach the last eight.
Clarke is followed by Argentina’s Federico Agustin Gomez, Great Britain’s Oliver Crawford, and Ilia Simakin in the singles seedings.
Seven Indian players, including top-ranked Sumit Nagal, Karan Singh, and 18-year-old Manas Dhamne, are also in the main draw via direct entry or wild cards.
Nagal arrives in Chennai after India’s thrilling Davis Cup win over the Netherlands in Bengaluru on Sunday, while Dhamne won an ITF title in Kuwait over the weekend. PTI PDS PDS KHS KHS
