Indian duo Ramanathan, Myneni advance at Chennai Open
Nedunchezhiyan/ Prashanth, who won the ATP Hangzhou Open last September, came back from the brink of defeat to overcome the wildcard pairing of Chirag Duhan/Dev Javia.
Saketh Myneni & Ramkumar Ramanathan
CHENNAI: It was a good day for the Indians doubles team at the Chennai Open ATP Challenger with second seeds Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan/Vijay Sundar Prashanth and defending champions Ramkumar Ramanathan/ Saketh Myneni advancing to the quarter-finals.
Nedunchezhiyan/ Prashanth, who won the ATP Hangzhou Open last September, came back from the brink of defeat to overcome the wildcard pairing of Chirag Duhan/Dev Javia. After the pair split the first two sets with some exciting exchanges at the net, Duhan/Javia built a 9-5 lead in the deciding match tiebreak and held five match points. But Nedunchezhiyan/Prashanth used all their experience to save all five and eventually emerge 6-3, 3-6, 13-11 winners.
Ramanathan/Myneni, who are seeded third in the doubles draw, had a much smoother ride into the last eight with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Kimmer Coppejans/ Ergi Kirkin.
In the singles draw, Sweden’s Elias Ymer booked his spot in the quarter-finals with a 7-5, 7-6 win over Great Britain’s Jay Clarke in a match that lasted nearly two and a half hours. Japan’s Rio Noguchi also secured his berth in the last eight with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Italy’s Jacopo Berrettini, the younger brother of former Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini.
The three remaining first round singles matches were also completed on Wednesday with fourth seeded Alexis Galarneau and Turkey’s Ergi Kirkin moving into the round of 16. However, eighth seed Zsombor Piros was knocked out by Ukraine’s Oleksandr Ovcharenko 7-6, 6-4. The Chennai Open is the first in a series of ATP Challenger events to be held in India. The tournaments to follow are scheduled to be held at Delhi, Pune and Bengaluru.
Results: Singles: First Round: Alexis Galarneau (CAN) bt Egor Agafonov 6-4, 6-1; Ergi Kirkin (TUR) bt Jiri Vesely (CZE) 6-7, 7-6 (retd.); Oleksandr Ovcharenko (UKR) bt [8] Zsombor Piros (HUN) 7-6, 6-4. Second Round: Elias Ymer (SWE) bt Jay Clarke (GBR) 7-5, 7-6; Rio Noguchi (JPN) bt Jacopo Berrettini (ITA) 7-5, 6-3. Doubles: Ray Ho (TPE)/Matthew Christopher Romios (AUS) bt Alexis Galarneau (CAN)/Kelsey Stevenson (CAN) 6-2, 6-1; Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) bt Chirag Duhan (IND)/Dev Javia (IND) 6-3, 3-6, 13-11; Saketh Myneni (IND)/Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) bt Kimmer Coppejans (BEL)/Ergi Kirkin (TUR) 6-3, 6-1; Francis Casey Alcantara (PHI)/Pruchya Isaro (THA) bt Timofey Skatov/Alexey Zakharov 6-3, 4-6, 10-7; Shintaro Mochizuki (JPN)/Kaito Uesugi (JPN) bt [Alt] Luca Castelnuovo (SUI)/Eric Vanshelboim (UKR) 6-4, 6-0; Egor Agafonov/Evgenii Tiurnev bt Michael Geerts (BEL)/Billy Harris (GBR) 7-6, 4-6, 10-5; Courtney John Lock (ZIM)/Rio Noguchi (JPN) bt Corentin Denolly (FRA)/Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg (FRA) 6-3, 7-6
