Mysuru, Mar 31 (PTI) India’s S D Prajwal Dev showed immense tenacity in carving out a 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) win over compatriot Mukund Sasikumar to waltz into the singles semifinals of the ITF Mysuru Open here on Friday.
Mysuru-based Prajwal, a world No 1027, came as the underdog against fourth seeded and 401-ranked Mukund but dished out a performance that masked the difference in ranking.
The USD 25,000 event is being hosted by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA).
Cutting back to the match, once Mukund won the first set 6-1, a canter for him seemed the most possible outcome. But Prajwal showed massive dollops of fighting spirit despite being down by a break in the second set to win it 7-5 eventually.
Both the players battled neck to neck in the decider as it stretched to the tie-break. Prajwal played the crucial points a lot better in the tie-break to come out as the winner after a battle that lasted precisely 3 hours.
In the semis, Prajwal will face George Loffhagen. Earlier, unseeded Loffhagen of Britain continued his winning spree in the tournament, beating India’s Karan Singh 7-6 (4), 6-3.
In the doubles, top-seeded Indian pair of B Rithvik Choudary and Niki Poonacha strolled past fourth seeds and compatriots Parikshit Somani and Manish Sureshkumar 6-3, 6-3 to enter the final.
Later, Mukund Sasikumar made up for his defeat in singles when he along with Vishnu Vardhan reached the doubles semifinals, defeating Indian duo Faisal Qamar and Fardeen Quamar 7-6 (7), 3-6, 10-7. The match was carried over from Thursday.
Results (Singles, QF) S D Prajwal Dev (IND) beat (4) Mukund Sasikumar (IND) 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) (2) Oliver Crawford (USA) beat Florent Bax (FRA) 6-4, 6-0 George Loffhagen (GBR) beat Karan Singh (IND) 7-6 (4), 6-3 (8) Ellis Blake (AUS) beat (3) Orlov Vladyslav (UKR) 7-6 (4), 6-4 Results: Doubles (Quarterfinals, Carried over from Thursday) Mukund Sasikumar (IND) / Vishnu Vardhan (IND) beat Faisal Qamar (IND)/ Fardeen Quamar (IND) 7-6 (7), 3-6, 10-7 Results: Doubles (Semifinals) (1) B Rithvik Choudary / Niki Poonacha (IND) beat (4) Parikshit Somani / Manish Sureshkumar 6-3, 6-3.
Source: PTI News
