Pune (Maharashtra) [India], February 24 (ANI): India’s top-ranked tennis star Sumit Nagal delivered a commanding efficiency whereas native teenager and the nation’s rising teen Manas Dhamne showcased nerves of metal to spearhead the Indian cost within the Maha Open ATP Challenger 75 Men’s Tennis Championship on the Balewadi Stadium on Tuesday, in keeping with a launch.
Nagal thrilled a energetic house crowd with a scientific 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 competition in straight units. The Indian No.1 appeared sharp in all departments, breaking serve constantly to advance comfortably into the second spherical.
Local boy Dhamne, who secured a spot in the primary draw by way of a Wildcard, continued his spectacular progress on the Challenger circuit, battling previous the winner of final week’s Delhi Challenger, Stefanos Sakellaridis of Greece 6-4, 7-6(4). The Pune teen, ranked 489, displayed maturity past his years, holding his nerve in a good second-set tiebreak to safe a memorable win over the 220-ranked, 21-year-old Greek.
Elsewhere, eighth seed Edas Butvilas of Lithuania gave a lesson in tennis to outclass native Indian wild card Aditya Balsekar 6-0, 6-1. Meanwhile, Indian entrant Karan Singh went right down to qualifier Maks Kasnikowski (POL) 6-3, 6-1.
The third seed, Ilia Simakin of Russia, edged previous qualifier Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong of Malaysia, profitable 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(10) in a carefully 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 outstanding comeback to defeat Belgian Michael Geerts 1-6, 7-6(9), 6-4, and fifth seed Frederico Ferreira Silva of Portugal moved into the subsequent spherical with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Petr Bar Biryukov. Qualifier Tung-Lin Wu of Chinese Taipei continued his good run, accounting for fortunate loser Alexander Binda of Italy 6-1, 6-2.
In the second spherical to be performed on Wednesday, Dhamne will tackle former world no. 40 Illya Ivashka at 2 PM IST.
Results: Main Draw: First Round: Singles:
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).The Maha Open ATP Challenger 75 Men’s Tennis Championship is organised by Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) in affiliation with the Department of Sports and Youth Services, Govt of Maharashtra, PCMC, PMC and PMDTA and sponsored by Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (PMRDA). (ANI)