DHARWAD, October 17, 2023 (Press Release)
Karnataka’s Suraj Prabodh and Gujarat’s Madhwin Kamath scored upset victories to make it to the main draw after knocking out fancied players in the ITF Dharwad Open at the Dharwad District Lawn Tennis Association courts here on Tuesday. The main draw of the ITF World Tennis Tour M25 event began today.
While Madhwin staged a superb comeback win against former Indian Davis Cupper and Asian Games medalist Vishnu Vardhan 5-7, 6-3, 10-5, Suraj sidelined 14th seed Yash Yadav in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.
In only two singles matches played on the opening day of the main rounds, third seed Digvijay Pratap Singh overcame a fighting Siddhanth Bhatia 6-2, 7-6 (7) while Nitin Kumar Sinha sent wild card entrant Rishi Reddy home with a facile 6-2, 6-2 victory. In the doubles matches, the Indian pair of Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta and Manish Sureshkumar upset second seeds Bogdan Bobrov and Nick Chappell of the United States 6-3, 3-6, 10-5.
After bad light and mild rain had stopped the match between Madhwin and Vishnu with the scores tied at 4-4 in the first set yesterday, Vishnu, capitalising on an error-prone Madhwin won the first set 7-5 today. However, the 21-year-old from Gujarat staged a superb comeback winning the second set with breaks in the 4th and 6th games and took the match into the decider. Vishnu faltered with his serve and returns alike and conceded the advantage after leading 4-2 and finally succumbed to the youngster.
Earlier in the day, an elaborate inauguration ceremony was organised which was graced by the presence of esteemed dignitaries, including former India cricket captain, Mohd. Azharuddin, and Hon’ble Minister for Labour and District-in-charge, Santosh Lad, who jointly inaugurated the tournament. To mark the occasion, Azharuddin and the minister engaged in a thrilling display of tennis skills, playing a few exhilarating rallies.
Results
Men’s Singles Round of 32
3-Digvijay Pratap Singh bt Siddhant Banthia 6-2, 7-6 (7); Nitin Kumar Sinha bt WC-Rishi Reddy 6-2, 6-2.
Doubles Round of 16
Manish Ganesh/Suraj R Prabodh bt Deepak Anantharamu/Rashein Samuel 7-6 (3), 6-3; Rishab Agarwal/Florent Bax (FRA) bt Adil Kalyanpur/Ryotaro Matsumura (JPN) 6-4, 5-7, 10-4; Ishaque Eqbal/ Faisal Qamar bt Chirag Duhan/Dev Javia 6-3, 6-7 (4), 10-4; Jake Bhangdia (USA) /Raghav Jaisinghani bt Tushar Madan/ Jagmeet Singh 6-3, 6-4; 4-Siddhant Banthia /Vishnu Vardhan bt Thijmen Loof (NED)/Stijn Pel (NED) 6-4, 6-1; 3-SD Prajwal Dev/Nitin Kumar Sinha bt Yash Chaurasia/Atharva Sharma 6-1, 6-2; Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta/ Manish Sureshkumar bt 2-Bogdan Bobrov/Nick Chappell (USA) 6-3, 3-6, 10-5; 1-Purav Raja/Ramkumar Ramanathan Vs. Digvijay Pratap Singh/Karan Singh 6-7 (7) (postponed due to bad light).
Final Qualifying Round
11-Madhwin Kamath bt 1-Vishnu Vardhan 5-7, 6-3, 10-5; Suraj R Prabodh bt 14-Yash Yadav 6-4, 6-1; Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam bt Tushar Madan 6-3, 6-3; 5-Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan bt 10-Kabir Hans 4-6, 6-3, 10-6.
