Sasikumar Mukund storms into quarter-finals at PMRDA MahaOpen ATP Challenger 100 Men’s International Tennis Championships

Pune, February 21, 2024: Indian wildcard entry Sasikumar Mukund put on a brilliant display of tennis to trounce British qualifier Felix Gill in just 51 minutes and advance to the quarter-finals of the PMRDA MahaOpen ATP Challenger 100 Men’s International Tennis Championships, organised by Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) at the Mhalunge Balewadi Tennis complex here.

Mukund, ranked 457th in the world, defeated Gill, ranked more than 100 places above him at No 344, for the loss of just one game and advanced to the last eight with a 6-1, 6-0 win. It is the second time in three events in India that Mukund has made the quarter finals , he will next meet third seed Adam Walton of Australia .

The Australian Walton won an ATP Challenger title in Burnie earlier this month, overcame a tough challenge from Chinese Taipei’s Tung-Lin Wu 6-7, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4) in a 2 hour 40 minute match to move into the quarter-finals.

Fourth seed Valetin Vacherot and Frenchman Enzo Couacaudwill will clash in another quarter-final on Friday. Vacherot, who represents Monaco, scored a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 win over Australian Tristian Schoolkate while Couacaud advanced when fifth seed Dalibor Svrcina, of the Czech Republic, retired while trailing 6-4, 7-5, 1-4.

In the doubles draw, Indian pairs dominated the day top seeds Arjun Kadhe and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan scored a 6-3, 6-3 win over fellow Indians Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha and Rithvik Choudary.

The red-hot duo of Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan, who won back-to-back Challenger titles in Chennai and Bengaluru coming into this week, won their ninth match in a row upset second seeds Piotr Matuszewski and Matthew Romios 7-6 (5), 6-4 to enter the quarterfinals

Top seed Sumit Nagal who cemented his place in the top 100 will take on countryman Niki Poonacha while Ramkumar Ramanathan will face qualifier Alexey Zakharov in the second round matches to be played on Thursday

Following are the Results for the Day Second Round ( Singles)

[3] Adam Walton (AUS) def. Tung-Lin Wu (TPE) 6-0, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4)

[4] Valentin Vacherot (MON) def. Tristian Schoolkate (AUS) 6-1, 6-2

Enzo Couacaud (FRA) def. [5] Dalibor Svrcina (CZE) 6-4, 5-7, 4-1 retd.

[WC] Sasikumar Mukund (IND) def. [Q] Felix Gill (GBR) 6-1, 6-0

Doubles Main Draw First Round

[1] Arjun Kadhe (IND) / Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) def.Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli (IND) / Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha(IND) 6-3, 6-3

Saketh Myneni (IND) / Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) def.[2] Piotr Matuszewski (POL) / Matthew Romios (AUS) 7-6 (5), 6-4

[3] Dan Added (FRA) / Yunseong Chung (KOR) def. Francis Casey Alcantara (PHI) / Kaichi Uchida (JPN) 6-2, 6-2

Jakob Schnaitter (GER) / Mark Wallner (GER) def. Ray Ho (TPE) / Calum Puttergill (AUS) 7-6 (9), 6-4

Duje Ajdukovic (CRO) / Enrico Dalla Valle (ITA) def.Dalibor Svrcina (CZE) / Dane Sweeny (AUS) 7-5, 6-3