CHENNAI: Qualifier Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam continued his impressive run by stunning eighth seed Ryuki Matsuda of Japan in the first round of the Adityan ITF M25 International Tennis Tournament 2026 at the SDAT Tennis Stadium on Wednesday.
Abhinav dominated Matsuda with strong serving, firing eight aces and unleashing powerful groundstrokes to take the first set in quick time. The second set saw both players engage in solid baseline exchanges, but Abhinav held his nerve to clinch the tie-break and seal a spot in the second round, where he will face former National Games champion Prajwal Dev.
Second seed Ilya Simakin proved too strong for young Madhwin Kamat, cruising to a comfortable 6-1, 6-1 win.
Other positive results for the hosts included, wild card entrant Hitesh Chauhan defeating Grigoriy Lomakin 7-6(7), 6-3. Another wild card and local favourite, Manish Suresh Kumar, outplayed sixth seed Eric Vanshelboim, who retired during the second set, handing the Indian a straight-sets victory. Top seed Max Houkes moved into the next round with a 6-3, 6-3 win over qualifier Aditya Balsekar.
In the doubles, two matches were completed on the day. The Japanese pair of Taisei and Masamichi edged past Francis and Karan Singh in a closely contested encounter. In the all-Indian tie, Lohithaksha and Abhinav defeated Manish Suresh Kumar and Aryan Lakshmanan 10-7 in the match tie-break.