Indian Davis Cuppers Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna advanced to doubles quarter-finals in different ATP Challenger events after hard-earned victories. Somdev and his American partner Ryan Harrison overcame the challenge of local pair Ilija Cuic and Kresimir Ritz 7-6(3), 6-2 in the first round of the US $50,000 Zagreb event in Croatia.
A day after being felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his exploits at the Asian Games in Incheon, Saketh Myneni toppled Belgian seventh seed Kimmer Coppejans to move into the quarter-finals of the ATP Indore Open on Wednesday. Myneni, ranked 451, overcame the number 202 Belgian 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in a close to two-hour second round match in the US $50,000 Challenger tournament.
Divij Sharan and Purav Raja squandered a superb start and bowed out of the ATP Challenger in Furth, Germany, after losing to local favourites Kevin Krawietz and Dominic Schulz 5-7, 3-6 in the quarter-finals.
India's Sumit Nagal gave a mighty scare to three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka by taking off the first set but then wilted under pressure to bow out of the Prague Open in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
A struggling Somdev Devvarman finally won a match post a comeback since July this season when he defeated Germany's Mischa Zverev in the opening round of the ATP Challenger tournament.
Vishnu Vardhan joined the Indian Davis Cup team in Chandigarh on Sunday and said the hosts are familiar with the playing style of the New Zealand squad that touched down for the Asia-Oceania tie starting September 14.
Somdev Devvarman's quest to win back to back ATP Challenger tournaments remained unfulfilled as he crashed out of the Vancouver Open with a straight sets defeat in the quarter-finals. Somdev went down fighting 4-6, 6-7 (6) against sixth seed Japanese Go Soeda in the last-eight clash in the US $ 1,00,000 hard-court event.
The Indo-Pak pair beat Michel Kratochvil and Gilles Muller 7-6 (8), 6-3 to win the Segovia Challenger.
Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi clinched their third ATP Challenger doubles title of the season after defeating Jarkko Nieminen and Henri Kontinen 6-2, 7-6 in the final of the Helsinki event in Finland.
Yuki Bhambri shocked third seed Dmitry Tursunov to progress to the second round of the ATP Challenger, but his doubles partner, Divij Sharan, went down fighting to sixth seed Yuichi Sugita, in Seoul, on Tuesday. Yuki scored a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory over his formidable Russian opponent, once a top-20 player, in the first round of the US $100,000 hard court event.
Ramkumar Ramanathan proved his ascendancy in Indian tennis yet again as he knocked out Yuki Bhambri from the ATP Indore Open even as India's top player Somdev Devvarman also made an early exit, in Indore, on Thursday.
Nadal expresses doubt over Australian Open participation
In winning his first ATP Challenger, Somdev Devvarman has made a smooth transition from college tennis to the professional tour and the double NCAA champion is already eyeing bigger things, one of which is the US Open.
The third seeded Indian pair of Divij Sharan and Purav Raja made it to the quarter-finals in the ATP Challenger event in Furth, Germany, after a hard-earned victory in the opening round. Left-handed Divij and Raja defeated Andrej Martin of Slovak Republic and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo of Chile 6-3, 1-6, 10-8 in the first round of the euro 30,000 clay-court event.
Harsh Mankad and Ashutosh Singh beat the top three seeds en route to victory at the US $ 50,000 ATP Challenger in New Delhi to become the first Indian team in almost two years to win a Challenger title.
Divij Sharan and Purav Raja staged a spectacular comeback to shock third seeds Rajeev Ram and Benjamin Becker and storm into the semi-finals of the ATP Challenger in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Friday. The unseeded Indian pair beat the American-German combo 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 in 70 minutes.
Tsitsipas made short work of Norwegian eighth seed Casper Ruud as he seized a third Monte Carlo Masters title in four years with a 6-1, 6-4 victory on Sunday.
After three ATP Challenger triumphs between them this season, Pakistan tennis ace Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi is looking forward to continuing his productive partnership with Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna in the ensuing year.
Top seed Somdev Devvarman and wildcard Karan Rastogi entered the singles second round of the ATP Challenger event in Singapore after scoring contrasting wins in their opening rounds.
Top seeds Wesley Moodie and Rik de Voest of South Africa beat second seeds Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Qureshi 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the final of the US $50,000 ATP Challenger in New Delhi on Friday.
The Indian Davis Cupper wasted three match-points and was beaten by second seed Igor Kunitsyn of Russia 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 at the ONGC ATP Challenger tournament in Delhi.
Young Indian Davis Cupper Ramkumar Ramanathan advanced to the second round of the Savannah Challenger but Yuki Bhambri, who has returned to circuit after a month, went down fighting in the Gimcheon event in Korea.
Indian Davis Cupper Prakash Ammritraj put up a valiant fight before losing to top seed Vincent Spadea in the quarter-finals of the US $50,000 Calabasas Challenger event in California, US. Amritraj, ranked 227 in the ATP charts, lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4) to his formidable American opponent, who is ranked as high as 89 in the list.
India's No 2 tennis player Karan Rastogi wants to win back his place in Indian Davis Cup squad and improve on his ranking this year.
With his exit the Indian challenge in the ATP Challenger tennis tournament came to an end.
Sanam Singh knocked out fifth seed Donald Young in straight sets to move to the singles quarter-finals of the ATP Knoxville Challenger event in the United States.
India's Somdev Devvarman won the ATP Challenger in Lexington after crushing third-seeded Robert Kendrick in straight sets in the final on Sunday. Double NCAA champion Somdev cruised to an emphatic 6-3, 6-3 victory over his Californian opponent to extend his unbeaten streak to 15 since stepping on the tour.
Alex De Minaur and Nick Kyrgios fell to the ground in relief and celebration after winning the half hour-long extended tiebreak
Former doubles world No. 1 Leander Paes was recently elected to receive the Ultimate Honour in Tennis - induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame - as the Class of 2024.
India's Karan Rastogi lost 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4) to Toshihide Matsui in the Chikmagalur Challenger
Prakash Amritraj crashed out of the Aegon Pro series after suffering defeats in both singles and doubles events at the euro 30,000 grass court ATP Challenger event in Manchester
Prakash Amritraj and Sunil Kumar Sipaeya surrendered to the resilience and guile of their Japanese opponents to crash out of the singles event of the $ 50,000 ATP Challenger tournament in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Somdev Devvarman fought an intense battle against Australian qualifier Samuel Groth but eventually lost 6-7(4), 7-6(10), 4-6 in the first round of the Nottingham Challenger. Rohan Bopanna, who entered the main draw via the qualifying event, beat Russian Alexandre Kudryavtsev 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Prakash Amritraj lost 6-7 (2), 7-5, 6-4 to Andrea Stoppini in the quarter-final of the ATP Challenger in Aptos.
Prakash Amritraj and Harsh Mankad are one step away from winning ATP challenger Tour's doubles titles, having reached the final of different events along with their respective partners.
Prakash Amritraj advanced to the doubles quarter-finals of the Italy ATP Challenger event along with his partner but curtains were drawn on the campaign of Harsh Mankad in Bergamo in Italy.
Somdev Devvarman went down fighting against Lester Cook of the US in the second round of the $50,000 ATP Challenger event in Los Angeles. Somdev, who is India's top-ranked men's singles player, lost 6-7 (5) 5-7 against the American wild card on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Smoke-induced interruptions likely at season's first grand slam.
Somdev Devverman rallied to record a brilliant victory over Pavol Cervenak and storm into the quarter-finals of the $125,000 ATP Challenger event in Seoul, Korea, on Wednesday. However, Prakash Amritraj's campaign ended with a loss in the second round.
