Manas Dhamne delighted home supporters in Pune as he advanced to the quarterfinals of the Maha Open ATP Challenger. Several top players, including Duje Ajdukovic and Alastair Gray, also moved into the last eight.
Manas Dhamne (Photo: X/@DhamneManas)
Indian wildcard Manas Dhamne kept local fans cheering as he booked a place in the men’s singles quarterfinals of the Maha Open ATP Challenger 75 in Pune on Wednesday.
The Pune youngster will now face Croatia’s Duje Ajdukovic in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Advertisement
Playing at the Shiv Chhatrapati Kreeda Sankul in Balewadi, the teenager advanced after former world top-50 player Ilya Ivashka retired injured while trailing 6-3. Dhamne had looked sharp from the start, hitting confidently from the baseline and controlling the rallies before Ivashka was forced to stop midway through the match.
Advertisement
Ajdukovic earlier produced a commanding performance to knock out fifth seed Frederico Ferreira Silva of Portugal 6-2, 6-2. The Croatian dictated play from the backcourt and never allowed his opponent to settle into the contest.
Britain’s Alastair Gray delivered one of the most dramatic wins of the tournament so far, rallying from a set down to defeat third seed Ilia Simakin 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 in a marathon match lasting nearly three hours. Gray showed strong nerves in the tie-break before sealing the win in the deciding set.
Sixth seed Federico Cina of Italy also progressed comfortably, beating Japan’s Yuta Shimizu 6-1, 6-4 with a steady and aggressive display.
In doubles action, top seeds Siddhant Banthia of India and Alexander Donski of Bulgaria came through a tough opening set before winning 7-6(5), 6-2 against Luca Castelnuovo and Uisung Park. Indian wildcards Saketh Myneni and Digvijaypratap Singh also impressed with a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Masamichi Imamura and Kokoro Isomura.
With the quarterfinal line-up now in place, competition is expected to intensify as players eye the Challenger title. India’s top singles player Sumit Nagal is scheduled to play his match on Thursday afternoon.
The tournament is being organised by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association in association with state and local sports authorities.
Advertisement
