Indian tennis: Manish Sureshkumar notches upset, Sidharth Rawat beats Arjun Kadhe at Pune Challenger

With as many as 11 players from the host country in action, it was a good day for young Indian players at the KPIT MSLTA Challenger in Pune on Tuesday

The highlight was 20-year-old Manish Sureshkumar knocking out 16th seed Rio Noguchi of Japan to move into pre-quarter-finals of the ATP Challenger event.

The Indian, currently ranked 748, notched the first seed upset of the tournament beating 408th ranked Rio Noguchi 6-3, 7-6(4). Manish used his forehand to good effect and held his nerve in a close second set to set up a third-round clash with Australian second seed James Duckworth, who played his second round match.

Manish took the first set rather easily but Noguchi raced to a 4-2 lead in the second set before the young Indian held his nerve to break back. In the tie-breaker, he played a solid game and hit two great forehand winners to seal the win, ensuring himself seven ATP points.

In the first round on Monday, Manish beat wildcard Anvit Bendre 6-2, 6-0 in a lopsided win.

The all-Indian clash between local boy Arjun Kadhe and Sidharth Rawat that went the distance was another good match on the second day of the tournament. Hampered by a shoulder injury, Kadhe lost the first set quickly before fighting back creditably, combating the aggressive Rawat.

The two had been locked in a similar three-set battle in an earlier match which the Pune player ended up winning, recalled Rawat. Taking a cue from that, he rallied himself mentally to win 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in an hour and 40 minutes.

Four other Indian players advanced to ensure that 13 Indians – including the seeds who have got a bye – will compete in the round of second round and earn ATP points, which is a positive sign. Playing in home conditions, the Indian players have been showing good touch in the first round.

Former national champion Dalwinder Singh, who came through qualifying, beat compatriot Kunal Anand 6-3, 6-4 while Kaza Vinayak Sharma, who made it to the main draw as an alternate, rode his luck to beat the other qualifier Tejas Chaukulkar 7-6(1), 6-7(5), 6-4 in the longest match of the day at 2 hours and 16 minutes.

However, it was a forgettable singles outing for N Vijay Sundar Prashanth who went down 6-2, 6-4 to Greece’s Markos Kalovelonis while Tunisian Aziz Dougaz defeated Adil Kalyanpur 6-3, 7-6(3).

In the doubles, Brydan Klein and India’s Vijay Sundar Prashanth beat wildcards entrants Aryan Goveas and Dhruv Sunish 6-2, 6-1.