Harsh Mankad goes down tamely

Defending champion Harsh Mankad of India crashed out of the $10,000 Canada F1 Satellite tennis tournament, losing to Peter Handoyo of Indonesia 4-6, 1-6 in the second round, in Mississauga near Toronto, Canada, on Thursday.

Mankad had defeated Handoyo 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 in the quarter-finals of the same event last year and went on to win his first pro title.

The Indian Davis Cupper, unseeded in the tournament, could not match Handoyo's game and went down in straight sets.

Handoyo is a top-10 ranked US college player and a playing member of the Indonesian Davis Cup team.

Ajay Ramaswamy, ranked 899 on the ATP, was the lone Indian to advance into the quarter-finals. He had an easy outing against qualifier Martin Zumpft of Germany, winning 6-4, 6-3.

He now will face second seed Thomas Blake of the United States. Blake defeated Luke Smith of Australia 6-4, 6-2 in the second round.

Earlier in first round, Smith had defeated 951-ranked Indian Sunil Kumar Sipaeya 6-3, 3-6, 3-6.

In the doubles draw, Harsh and Mustafa lost to Simon Larose of Canada and Luke Smith of Australia 6-7(2), 1-6 while Ajay Ramaswamy and Sunil Kumar Sipaeya defeated Matthew Baccarani and Darius Craton of Canada 6-3, 6-3.

Ajay Ramaswamy and Sunil Kumar Sipaeya will now face fourth seeds Josh Goffi of the United States and Michael Tebbutt of Australia in the quarter-finals.

Earlier report:
Harsh begins title defence well