Bengaluru, May 19: Indian players produced a memorable opening day at the SM Krishna Memorial Open here, highlighted by wild card Manish Sureshkumar’s stunning first-round upset over top seed and recently crowned Karnataka Open champion Keegan Smith.
Manish, ranked 737 in the world and fresh off his maiden Challenger quarterfinal appearance last week, looked increasingly comfortable competing at a higher level and won 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in a hard-fought three-setter.
“Last week was my first Challenger quarter-final. I’m kind of getting used to the level now, because the pace is kind of different,” said Manish after the victory.
Despite Keegan firing 11 aces, the American struggled with consistency, committing 41 unforced errors compared to Manish’s 22. The Indian absorbed pressure intelligently and played with freedom against the top seed.
Manish broke in the third game of the opening set before Keegan briefly restored parity. Another timely break in the ninth game helped the Indian claim the set 6-4. The American bounced back strongly in the second set with two breaks of serve to level the match.
However, the decider belonged entirely to Manish for his grit and tactical discipline. Facing 15-40 in the opening game, he fought back to earn an early break and seize momentum..
Another break in the seventh game put him firmly in control before he completed the upset over the player who had looked nearly untouchable through last week’s Karnataka Open campaign.
India enjoyed more success through Sidharth Rawat, who produced a composed display to defeat Omar Jasika (Australia) 7-6(4), 6-3. Rawat edged a tightly contested opening-set tiebreak before raising his level in the second set to close out the match in straight sets.
Experienced campaigner Mukund Sasikumar also progressed after surviving a stern challenge from eighth seed Maximus Jones (Thailand) 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) in a two-hour and 17-minute battle. Mukund repeatedly recovered from difficult situations and showed superior composure in both tiebreaks to advance.
Promising local wild card Kriish Tyagi continued his impressive run with a 7-6 (8), 7-6 (4) victory over Kuan-Yi Lee (Chinese Taipei). The youngster showed remarkable temperament, saving a set point at 5-6 in the opening set before prevailing in a dramatic tiebreak. He backed it up by winning another breaker in the second set.
Another Indian wild card, Aditya Vishal Balsekar, pushed third seed Hamish Stewart (Great Britain) to the brink before bowing out 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-4 in a gruelling two-hour and 36-minute contest. Balsekar’s spirited fightback to force a decider after dominating the second-set tiebreak nearly produced another upset, but Stewart eventually held firm to survive the scare.
Aradhya Kshitij lost to second seed Alastair Gray of Great Britain, while Karan Singh, Prajwal Dev, Digvijaypratap Singh and lucky loser Nitin Kumar Sinha exited the tournament. (PTI)
