Unseeded Siddharth Rawat of India put up an impressive performance to upset fourth-seeded Dominik Palan of the Czech Republic in the pre-quarterfinals of the Central Excise & CGST-ITF M25 Tournament at the Bengal Tennis Association Complex on Thursday.
Rawat, who is a member of the Indian Davis Cup squad, displayed excellent control and precision throughout the match. He raced through the opening set 6-2 and was firmly in command at 3-0 in the second set when Palan conceded the match, citing illness and discomfort. Rawat will now face compatriot Abhinav Shanmugam in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Second seed Karan Singh and unseeded Manish Sureshkumar also progressed to the quarterfinals, ensuring a strong Indian presence in the tournament’s final eight.
Karan Singh began smoothly as he toyed with Bekhan Atlangeriev of Russia in the first set. Karan took the set with relative ease at 6-2.
However, the Russian came back strongly in the second set as he put up a stiff fight. Bekhan took the set to the tie-break but the Indian managed to prevail 7-6 (4) and book a quarterfinal berth.
On the other hand, Manish had to wage a grim battle before he overcame a fighting Dev Javia in a three-set encounter. Manish took the first set easily at 6-1 but Dev fought back into the game. He won the second set at 6-3. But Manish was in no mood to give it up and he tightened his belt. Manish romped to a 6-1 win as he ensured his place in the quarterfinals.
Shanmugam, a wild card entrant from Tamil Nadu and currently ranked 22 in the country, continued his impressive run with a hard-fought 7-6(4), 7-5 win over higher-ranked Rohan Mehra to reach the last eight.
Another Indian wild card, Shanker Heisnam of Manipur, bowed out after a spirited fight against top seed Luca Castelnuovo of Switzerland, who won 7-5, 6-2.
The results: Men’s singles (pre-quarterfinals): Luca Castelnuovo (Sui) beat Shanker Heisnam 7-5, 6-2; Leo Borg (Swe) beat James Van Herzeele (Tha) 6-4, 6-2; Philip Sekulic (Aus) beat Ishaque Eqbal 6-2, 6-1; Manish Sureshkumar beat Dev Javia 6-1, 3-6, 6-1; Abhinav Shanmugam beat Rohan Mehra 7-6(4), 7-5; Sidharth Rawat beat Dominik Palan (Cze) 6-2, 3-0 (retd); Yurii Dzhavakian (Ukr) beat Chirag Duhan 7-5, 4-1 (retd); Karan Singh beat Bekhan Atlangeriev (Rus) 6-2, 7-6(4).
