Teenager Manas Dhamne continued with his sensational show as he marched into the quarterfinals of the Pune ATP Challenger 2026 at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune on Wednesday.
Playing as a wildcard, the 18-year-old got past Ilya Ivashka, a former top-50 singles tennis player, after the latter withdrew due to injury. Dhamne had won the first set 6-3. Manas will now take on Croatia’s Duje Ajdukovic in the quarterfinals of the ATP Challenger 75 event on Friday.
In the first round, Dhamne had upset Stefanos Sakellaridis of Greece – the winner of last week’s Delhi Open.
India No. 1 Sumit Nagal, who produced a clinical 6-1, 6-2 victory over seventh seed Rio Noguchi of Japan in the first round on Tuesday, will be in action on Thursday.
Unseeded players Duje Ajduković of Croatia, Alastair Gray of Great Britain, and sixth-seeded Italian Federico Cina were the other players from the top half to make the last eight stage.
Duje Ajduković delivered a dominant all-round display to upset fifth-seed Frederico Ferreira Silva of Portugal with the scoreline of 6-2, 6-2. He controlled proceedings from the baseline, broke early in both sets and never allowed the Portuguese to settle into rhythm.
Alastair Gray scripts thrilling win over Ilia Simakin
Britain’s Alastair Gray scripted a thrilling win, fighting back from a set down to upset third seed Ilia Simakin 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 in two hours and 50 minutes.
Sixth seed Federico Cina of Italy continued his impressive run with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Japan’s Yuta Shimizu
In the doubles first round, top seeds Siddhant Banthia (India) and Alexander Donski (Bulgaria) overcame a stiff first-set challenge to beat Luca Castelnuovo (Switzerland) and Uisung Park (Republic of Korea) 7-6(5), 6-2.
Wildcards Saketh Myneni and Digvijaypratap Singh impressed with a solid 6-3, 6-3 victory over Japan’s Masamichi Imamura and Kokoro Isomura.
Jay Clarke (Great Britain) and Michael Geerts (Belgium) also registered a clinical 6-3, 6-4 win over the Japanese duo Takuya Kumasaka and Rio Noguchi.
Ryuki Matsuda (Japan) and Ilia Simakin battled past Aryan Lakshmanan (India) and Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong (Malaysia) 7-6(3), 7-5 in a closely contested encounter.
Results: Men’s singles (Round II): Duje Ajdukovic (CRO) beat 5-Frederico Ferreira Silva (POR) 6-2, 6-2; Alastair Gray (GBR) beat 3-Ilia Simakin 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5; 6-Federico Cina (ITA) beat Yuta Shimizu (JPN) 6-1, 6-4; Manas Dhamne (IND) beat Ilya Ivashka 6-3 (retd).
Men’s doubles (Round II): 1-Siddhant Banthia (IND) / Alexander Donski (BUL) beat Luca Castelnuovo (SUI)/ Uisung Park (KOR) 7-6(5), 6-2; Saketh Myneni (IND) / Digvijaypratap Singh (IND) beat Masamichi Imamura (JPN) / Kokoro Isomura (JPN) 6-3, 6-3; Jay Clarke (GBR) /Michael Geerts (BEL) beat Takuya Kumasaka (JPN) / Rio Noguchi (JPN) 6-3, 6-4; Ryuki Matsuda (JPN) / Ilia Simakin beat Aryan Lakshmanan (IND) /Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong (MAS) 7-6(3), 7-5; 4-Jisung Nam (KOR) / Patrik Niklas-Salminen (FIN) beat Manas Dhamne (IND) / Aditya Vishal Balsekar (IND) 6-2, 6-1.
