Bengaluru Open: Mochizuki ends Barton’s dream run, McCabe stuns Mejia to reach semis

Bengaluru, Feb 28 (IANS) Seventh seed Shintaro Mochizuki ended Hynek Barton’s dream run at the 2025 Bengaluru Open by knocking out the Czech qualifier from the singles event at the KSLTA Tennis Stadium here on Friday. The 2019 junior Wimbledon Champion beat Barton 7-6(5), 6-3 to advance to the semifinals, where he will play Australian James McCabe.

Playing at the Centre Court, Mochizuki flew off the blocks to sweep the opening game of the first set without losing a point. The rising Japanese star then procured two breakpoints in the second game, but Barton fought back for a hold.

Thereon, the intensity grew as the match progressed, and eventually, Mochizuki grabbed the opening set via a tie-breaker in the ATP Challenger 125 tournament with a prize pool of USD 200,000 organised by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA). It currently holds the distinction of being India’s biggest international tennis event. The champion of this hard-court tournament will earn 125 valuable ATP ranking points.

Mochizuki broke Barton’s serve in the very first game of the second set, before defending two breakpoints in the next and another in game four. Having provided himself with a sturdy platform, the seventh seed proceeded to wrap up the victory in an hour and 36 minutes.

Earlier, the 21-year-old McCabe came from a set down to defeat Colombia’s Nicolas Mejia 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a quarterfinal match that lasted two hours and 22 minutes. Having lost the first set, McCabe fought back in the second, exchanging breaks with his opponent in games six and seven before achieving the decisive advantage in the 10th game. Wind in his sails, the youngster saved three breakpoints in the first game of the decider before breaking Mejia in game six and cruising to victory.

Alongside Mochizuki and McCabe, Great Britain’s Billy Harris also booked his berth in the DafaNews Bengaluru Open semifinals after a thrilling three-setter win over second seed Tristan Schoolkate. A lucky loser from qualifying, Harris took the first set 6-2 before Schoolkate secured the second, cancelling his advantage. Having conceded his serve in the first game of the decider, Harris fought back by breaking Schoolkate in game six before taking the decisive 12th game for a 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 victory.

Second seeds Blake Bayldon and Matthew Romios secured a spot in the doubles final after eliminating unseeded Siddhant Banthia and Parikshit Somani 6-3, 7-6(6). A cagey start aside, the Australians converted one of three breakpoints in the fourth game to gain an early lead in the first set. While the Indian pair responded by sweeping through game six and saving a break point in game eight. However, they couldn’t break back and ended up conceding the lead.

The second set saw Banthia and Somani put up a strong resistance, saving a break point in the opening game and matching their opponent’s game for the game to force a tiebreaker. Despite their spirited fight, they eventually fell 8-6 in the tiebreaker. Bayldon and Romios will now face the winner of the clash between reigning champions Saketh Myneni/Ramkumar Ramanathan and top seeds Anirudh Chandrasekar/Ray Ho for the Bengaluru Open 2025 doubles title.

Selected results:

Singles (quarterfinals): James McCabe (AUS) d. Nicolas Mejia (COL) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; [7] Shintaro Mochizuki (JPN) d. [Q] Hynek Barton (CZE) 7-6(5), 6-3; [LL] Billy Harris (GBR) d. [2] Tristan Schoolkate (AUS) 6-2, 1-6, 7-5

Doubles (semifinals):

[2] B. Bayldon (AUS)/MC Romios (AUS) d. [PR] S. Banthia (IND)/P. Somani (IND) 6-3, 7-6(6).

–IANS

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