Maha Open ATP Challenger: Nagal powers through; Dhamne Impresses as Indian stars light up day

Pune, Feb 24 (IANS) India’s top-ranked star Sumit Nagal delivered a commanding performance while local teenager and the country’s rising youngster Manas Dhamne showcased nerves of steel to spearhead the Indian charge in the Maha Open ATP Challenger 75 Men’s Tennis Championship at the Shiv Chhatrapati Kreeda Sankul in Pune on Tuesday.

Nagal thrilled a lively home crowd with a clinical 6-1, 6-2 victory over seventh seed Rio Noguchi of Japan, securing victory in an hour and 9 minutes, dictating play from the baseline and sealing the contest in straight sets. The Indian No.1 looked sharp in all departments, breaking serve consistently to advance comfortably into the second round.

Local boy Dhamne, who secured a place in the main draw through a Wildcard, continued his impressive progress on the Challenger circuit, battling past the winner of last week’s Delhi Challenger, Stefanos Sakellaridis of Greece, 6-4, 7-6(4). The Pune teen, ranked 489, displayed maturity beyond his years, holding his nerve in a tight second-set tiebreak to secure a memorable win over the 220-ranked Greek.

Elsewhere, eighth seed Edas Butvilas of Lithuania gave a lesson in tennis to outclass local Indian wild card Aditya Balsekar 6-0, 6-1. Meanwhile, Indian entrant Karan Singh went down to qualifier Maks Kasnikowski (POL) 6-3, 6-1.

The third seed, Ilia Simakin of Russia, edged past qualifier Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong of Malaysia, winning 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(10) in a closely fought encounter lasting 2 hours and 24 minutes.

Sixth seed Federico Cina from Italy registered a dominant 6-1, 6-0 win over Japanese qualifier Takuya Kumasaka. Britain’s Felix Gill staged a remarkable comeback to defeat Belgian Michael Geerts 1-6, 7-6(9), 6-4, and fifth seed Frederico Ferreira Silva of Portugal moved into the next round with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Petr Bar Biryukov. Qualifier Tung-Lin Wu of Chinese Taipei continued his good run, accounting for lucky loser Alexander Binda of Italy 6-1, 6-2.

In the second round to be played on Wednesday, Dhamne will take on former world no. 40 Illya Ivashka.

Results:

Singles (first round):

Edas Butvilas [8](Ltu) bt [WC] Aditya Balsekar (Ind)6-0, 6-1;

Federico Cina [6] (Ita) bt [Q] Takuya Kumasaka (Jpn) 6-1, 6-0;

Felix Gill (Gbr) bt Michael Geerts (Bel) 1-6, 7-6(9), 6-4;

Frederico Ferreira Silva [5] (Por) bt Petr Bar Biryukov 6-3, 6-4;

[Q] Tung-Lin Wu (Tpe) bt [LL] Alexander Binda (Ita)6-1, 6-2;

Ilia Simakin [3] bt [Q] Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong (Mas) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(10);

Sumit Nagal (Ind) bt Rio Noguchi [7](Jpn) 6-1, 6-2;

[Wc] Manas Dhamne (Ind) bt Stefanos Sakellaridis (Gre) 6-4, 7-6(4);

Oliver Crawford [4](Gbr) bt Tsung-Hao Huang (Tpe) 6-2, 4-6, 6-0;

[Q] Maks Kasnikowski (Pol) Vs [Wc] Karan Singh (Ind)6-3, 6-1;

[Q] Masamichi Imamura (Jpn) bt David Jorda Sanchis (Esp)7-6(8), 6-4;

Doubles:

Yuta Shimizu (Jpn)/ Seita Watanabe[3](Jpn) bt S D Prajwal Dev (Ind)/ Nitin Kumar Sinha (Ind) 6-4, 7-6(2);

–IANS

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