PUNE, February 24, 2026 (Media Release)
India’s top-ranked star Sumit Nagal delivered a commanding performance while local Pune boy and country’s rising youngster Manas Dhamne showcased nerves of steel to spearhead the Indian charge at the PMRDA Powered Maha Open ATP Challenger 75 Men’s Tennis Championship organized by Maharashtra State Lawn tennis Association (MSLTA).
Nagal thrilled a lively home crowd with a clinical 6-1, 6-2 victory over seventh seed Rio Noguchi of Japan in one hour and nine minutes match, 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 wild card Dhamne continued his impressive progress on the Challenger circuit, battling past winner of the last week’s Delhi Challenger Stefanos Sakellaridis of Greece 6-4, 7-6(4). The Pune teen ranked world No. 489 displayed maturity beyond his years, holding his nerve in a tight second-set tiebreak to secure a memorable win over the 220 ranked 21 year old Greek. A 20 ball rally on the match point was a summary of how close the match watch.
Powering in Pune #ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/L2oqM4XoZC
— ATP Challenger (@ATPChallenger) February 24, 2026
Elsewhere, eighth seed Edas Butvilas of Lithuania gave a lesson in tennis out classing local Indian wild card Aditya Balsekar 6-0, 6-1. In another match an Indian player, wild card entrant Karan Singh went down to qualifier Maks Kasnikowski from Poland 6-3, 6-1.
In the best match of the day which went to the wire, third seed Ilia Simakin of Russia edged qualifier Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong of Malaysia 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(10) in a closely fought encounter lasting two 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 ahead 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.
TUESDAY 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 – First Round
Yuta Shimizu (Jpn)/ Seita Watanabe[3](Jpn) bt S D Prajwal Dev (Ind)/ Nitin Kumar Sinha (Ind) 6-4, 7-6(2);
