Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

Mixed Doubles
[R1] (5) Timea Babos (HUN)/ Rohan Bopanna (IND) vs (WC) Ellen Perez (AUS)/ Andrew Whittington (AUS)

Juniors
[Q1] (10) Akanksha A Bhan (IND,116) bt Lisa Mays (AUS,216) 63 36 61

[Q2] (10) Akanksha A Bhan (IND,116) vs (8) Rina Saigo (JPN,111)

Only Rohan is playing in the MXD ... He is partnering Hungarian Timea Babos and they r facing Australian wild-card pair in the first round.

Good to see Akanksha Bhan is participating in the junior qualifying ... She started with a win against local player ... In the final qualifying, she is facing higher ranked Japanese girl, Rina Saigo.

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At $50K+H Koblenz Challenger 2018, Germany

[R1] (WC) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l (WC) Jan Choinski (GER)/ Marvin Moeller (GER) 46 67(7)

Vishnu-Bala's new season didn't started on the right note, as another first round loss for them against local wild-card pair.

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At $15K China F2 Futures 2018, Anning (Clay)

[R2] (Q) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,1444) bt Mats Rosenkranz (GER,951) 76(4) 67(2) 60

[QF] (Q) Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND,1444) vs (3) Steven Diez (CAN,312)

Another upset win by young Nitin against top-1000 ranked his German opponent ... The first 2 sets went to the tie-breaks, which both players split ... But Nitin runaway in the third and bagelled his opponent ... In the quarters, he is facing top-300 type Canadian Diez.

Tennis News

At $15K China F2 Futures 2018, Anning (Clay)

[Q1] (7) Nitin Kumar SINHA (IND) bye
[Q2] (7) Nitin Kumar SINHA (IND) bt He FENG (CHN) 64 60
[Q3] (7) Nitin Kumar SINHA (IND) bt (11) Haitong XIA (CHN) 62 60

[R1] Manish SURESHKUMAR (IND,1033) l (4) Yan BAI (CHN,474) 26 46
[R1] (Q) Nitin Kumar SINHA (IND,1444) bt (WC) Aoran WANG (CHN,1132) 63 63
[R1] (5) Arjun KADHE (IND,610) bt Huixin WANG (CHN,1543) 63 64

[R2] (Q) Nitin Kumar SINHA (IND,1444) vs Mats ROSENKRANZ (GER,951)
[R2] (5) Arjun KADHE (IND,610) vs Cing-Yang MENG (TPE,931)

Nitin qualified and won the first round ... Arjun also started with a win.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[R1] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) l Marcos Baghdatis (CYP,101) 67(4) 46 36

Yuki had a numerous opportunities against Marcos Baghdatis in the first round, but he failed to capitalize ... In the first set, Yuki started confidently and broke Baghdatis in the 1st to lead 2-0 ... Baghdatis broke him in the 4th, then Yuki broke him in the 5th, but failed to hold the next game, 3-all ... Yuki broke Baghdatis again in the 9th but failed to hold in the 10th when serving for the set ... In the tie-break Yuki was up 3-1 but again lost the momentum to lost the set ... This missed chances continued in the next two sets ... Baghdatis broke him in the 9th game and then hold his serve for winning the second set ... And then lost the third set easily ... Yuki committed 54 unforced errors in this match and poor 1st serve percentage which tells the story of the match

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[Q3] (28) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) l (5) Vasek Pospisil (CAN,108) 46 64 46
[Q3] (15) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) bt (26) Peter Polanksy (CAN,140) 16 63 63

[R1] (Q) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) vs Marcos Baghdatis (CYP,101)

Doubles
[R1] (16) Rajeev Ram (USA)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Marius Copil (ROU)/ Viktor Troicki (SRB)
[R1] (10) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Ryan Harrison (USA)/ Vasek Pospisil (CAN)
[R1] Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO)/ Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT)

Yuki will face Marcos Baghdatis in the first round ... Yuki can fancy his chances against temperamental Baghdatis.

Before that, Yuki qualified for the main-draw of AO 2018 after comeback win over Polanksy ... Yuki started tentatively and wasn't played his usual game ... Polanksy took advantage of it and won six games in a row from 0-1, he broke Yuki in the 3rd, the 5th and the 7th games ... Yuki showed improvement from the second set and he reduced unforced errors ... The first time in the match Yuki broke Polanksy in the 7th game to lead 4-3 and then again broke him in the 9th game for taking the match in to the decider ... In the final set, Yuki hold in the 6th game after 0-30 down for 4-3 and immediately broke Polanksy in the 8th game for 5-3 ... Yuki comfortably hold for an excellent comeback win after forgettable start.

RamK missed an opportunity for qualifying to the main-draw ... In the first set, RamK missed four break point chances on Pospisil's serve and Pospisil made him to pay as he broke RamK in the 10th game when he was serving to remain in the set ... In the second set, RamK took a crucial break in the 3rd game and kept that break advantage for winning the set ... In the decider, RamK missed a break point opportunity in the 5th game ... Again while serving for staying in the match, RamK failed to hold as Pospisil won it with backhand down the line passing shot.

The doubles draw is out and our players have decent first round matches ... Divij gets first-time seeded in the grand slam partnering Rajeev Ram ... Divij-Rajeev r in the top-draw and r facing pairing of Troicki-Copil ... Rohan and Edouard r 10th seeds and they r facing Harrison-Pospisil in the first round ... Lee-Purav r facing Basilashvili and Haider-Maurer in the first round.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[Q2] (28) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) bt Gleb Sakharov (FRA,153) 64 76(10)

[Q3] (28) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) vs (5) Vasek Pospisil (CAN,108)

RamK moved into the final qualifying round with the straight sets win over Sakharov ... This match moved to the indoor court due to persistent rains in Melbourne for last two days ... The match was a lot closer than score suggest ... RamK took first break in the 5th game but Sakharov immediately broke Ramk in the next game for 3-all ... RamK again broke him in the 7th game to lead 4-3 and kept that advantage for winning the set ... In the second set, RamK broke Sakharov in the 3rd game to lead 2-1 ... But Sakharov broke back in the 6th game for 3-all ... After that both players failed to other's serve despite having break points ... In the tie-break, after exchanging mini-breaks RamK was leading 5-3 but Sakharov made 5-all ... After that, both players were winning points on their serves ... RamK took a crucial mini-break on 21st point and then served a big for converting 4th match point ... In the final qualifying round, RamK is also facing Canadian challenge, Vasek Pospisil.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[Q2] (15) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) bt Carlos Taberner (ESP,186) 60 62

[Q3] (15) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) vs (26) Peter Polanksy (CAN,140)

Expected an easy win for Yuki but wasn't expected this type of thrashing to Taberner in the grand slam qualifying ... He gave a bagel, losing only four points in the first set and continued with a this trend for a comfotable win ... In the final qualifying round, he is facing another Canadian challenge of Peter Polanksy.

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At $75K Canberra Challenger 2018, Australia

Picture Credit to Divij's FB page

Doubles Final
(2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (1) Hans Podlipnik-Castilo (CHI)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 76(1) 62

Divij lifted his first title of 2018 season with Jonathan Erlich ... They defeated top-seeds Podlipnik-Castilo and Vasilevski in the straight sets.

Tennis News

At $469K Sydney International, Australia

[SF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) l (1) Lukasz Kubot (AUT)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA) 46 75 8-10

Rohan and Edouard gave fighting performance against WR #1 Kubot and Melo ... After losing the first set they fought back for winning the second ... But Kubot and Melo won closely fought the match tie-break for the win.

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At $75K Canberra Challenger 2018, Australia

[QF] (2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Andreas Seppi (ITA)/ Gavin Van Peperzeel (AUS) 64 63
[SF] (2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Zhe Li (CHN)/ Yusuke Watanuki (JPN) 64 67(5) 10-4

[F] (2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (1) Hans Podlipnik-Castilo (CHI)/ Andrei Vasilevski (BLR)

Divij-Erlich required the match tie-break against Li-Watanuki for entering into the final ... Before that, another comfortable the straight sets win for them against Seppi and Van Peperzeel ... In the final, they r facing top-seeds Podlipnik-Castilo and Vasilevski.

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At $50K+H Bangkok-1A Challenger 2018, Thailand

[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) l Enrique Lopez Perez (ESP)/ Pedro Martinez (ESP) 67(4) 67(3)

Jeevan-Chris lost in the two tie-breaks against unseeded Spanish pair.

Squash News

At $165K Women's PSA Masters 2018, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

[QF] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,20) l (1) Nour El Sherbini (EGY,1) 5-11, 8-11, 4-11 (20m)

Both played attacking game but Nour was too strong for Dipika, though she tried hard in the second game.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[Q1] (28) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) bt Bradley Klahn (USA,219) 67(6) 76(3) 62
[Q1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,252) vs Tobias Kamke (GER,229) 64 16 26
[Q1] Sumit Nagal (IND,216) l Alessandro Giannessi (ITA,161) 67(5) 63 36
[Q1] (15) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) bt Brayden Schnur (CAN,185) 16 63 64

[Q2] (28) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) vs Gleb Sakharov (FRA,153)
[Q2] (15) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) vs Carlos Taberner (ESP,186)

RamK handled superbly pressure of losing to win a match ... RamK and Klahn hold their respective service games to take the first set in the tie-break ... Klahn took a crucial mini-break on the 14th points for winning the set ... In the second set, Klahn broke RamK in the 5th game, 2-4, but RamK broke him when he was serving for the match in the 10th game, 5-all ... RamK won the tie-break comfortably ... In the third set, from 2-all RamK won next 4 games in a row breaking Klahn in 5ht and 7th games ... This was an amazing comeback from RamK against solid player ... RamK will be faced top-150 type Frenchman Sakharov in the second qualifying.

Yuki moved into the second qualifying round with a comeback win over his tricky Canadian opponent, Brayden Schnur ... In the first set, Yuki failed to challenge Schnur's big serve and powerful shots and lost it easily ... Yuki started to read Schnur's game from the second set ... Yuki broke Schnur in the 6th game to lead 4-2 and kept that advantage for winning this set ... In the third set, both players hold their respective service games until 2-all ... Yuki broke Schnur in the 5th game but failed to hold in the next, 3-all ... Yuki took a crucial break in the 9th game to lead 5-4 ... Schnur saved a couple of match point from 40-15 down but Yuki converted third match point for completing the win ... On the paper, Yuki's next match looks winnable against Spanish Taberner.

Prajnesh missed a big opportunity for scoring a win in the grand slam qualifying ... He started well and won the first set with a single break advantage after saving 2 break points in the 10th game ... From the second set, Prajnesh struggled with his game and failed to keep a ball in the court ... Kamke took advantage of it and won next two sets comfortably.

The loss for Sumit was a case of missed opportunities ... In the first set, Giannessi broke Sumit in 6th game to lead 2-4 but Sumit immediately broke back for 3-4 ... Sumit again broke him in the 9th game to lead 5-4 ... While serving for the set, Sumit had two set points at 40-15 but he failed to convert ... Giannessi broke him and then won the tie-break ... In the second set, Sumit took an early break and kept that advantage for winning it ... In the final set, Sumit broke Giannessi in the 1st game for 2-0 lead but from 3-1 Sumit lost next five games .. In that, Sumit lost his serve in the 6th and the 8th games ... Sumit missed a huge opportunity of making a winning start on his grand slam debut.

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At $469K Sydney International, Australia

[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Ivan Dodig (CRO)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 64 64
[QF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Fabrice Martin (FRA)/ Nicholas Monroe (USA) 76(5) 76(5)

[SF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs (1) Lukasz Kubot (AUT)/ Marcelo Melo (BRA)

Rohan and Edouard r in the semis and will be facing top-seed Kubot and Melo ... In the quarters, they defeated Martin and Monroe in the two tie-breaks ... Before that, they started with the straight sets win over Dodig and Verdasco in the first round.

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At $75K Canberra Challenger 2018, Australia

[R1] (2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (WC) Jeremy Beale (AUS)/ Thomas Fancutt (AUS) 63 61

[QF] (2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Andreas Seppi (ITA)/ Gavin Van Peperzeel (AUS)

Divij and Erlich scored an easy win over a local wild-card pair in the first round ... Next, they r facing Seppi and Van Peperzeel.

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At $50K+H Bangkok-1A Challenger 2018, Thailand

[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) bt Ti Chen (TPE)/ Flavio Cipolla (ITA)

[QF] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Enrique Lopez Perez (ESP)/ Pedro Martinez (ESP)

Jeevan-Chris started with a dominating win losing only two games against experienced Ti Chen and Cipolla ... Next, they r facing Spanish pair.

Squash News

At $165K Women's PSA Masters 2018, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

[R2] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,20) bt (7) Alison Waters (ENG,10) 11-9, 12-10, 11-7 (30m)
[R2] (10) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) l (5) Nicol David (MAS,6) 11-6, 5-11, 7-11, 7-11 (38m)

[QF] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,20) vs (1) Nour El Sherbini (EGY,1)

Dipika played attacking game to beat top-10 Alison Waters in the straight games ... After longtime we r seeing win over top-10 player by Dipika ... The first 2 games were very close but Dipika won it keeping her composure ... Next, she is facing in-form WR #1 Nour El Sherbini.

Joshna is still searching for her first win against Nicol, after this loss she has 0-14 win-loss record against Nicol ... Joshna started well and won the first game comfortably but from the second game, Nicol changed her tactics ... She matched Joshna's fast game and covered a lot of court for completing win in four games.

Tennis News

At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

[Q1] (28) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) vs Bradley Klahn (USA,219)
[Q1] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,252) vs Tobias Kamke (GER,229)
[Q1] Sumit Nagal (IND,216) vs Alessandro Giannessi (ITA,161)
[Q1] (15) Yuki Bhambri (IND,121) vs Brayden Schnur (CAN,185)

Australian open qualifying draw is out ... Yuki is 15th seed so he is highest seeded in his draw and having good chance to move in the maindraw ... RamK is 28th seed and also having a favorable draw ... Prajnesh and Sumit r having winnable first round matches.

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At $501K ASB Classic 2018, Auckland, New Zealand

[R1] (WC) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) l Marcin Matkowski (POL)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 76(4) 67(8) 7-10

Lee-Purav lost a close match in two hours against Aisam and Marcin ... Our pair had a match point in the second set tie-break which they failed to convert.

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At $50K+H Bangkok-1A Challenger 2018, Thailand

[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,428) l (7) Yusuke Takahashi (JPN,282) 26 75 06
[R1] (Q) Sidharth Rawat (IND,542) l Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul (THA,487) 67(3) 36

Sasi lost in the three sets against top-300 Japanese Takahashi ... Sid lost in the straight sets against local player.

Squash News

At $165K Women's PSA Masters 2018, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

[R1] (10) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) bt Samantha Cornett (CAN,26) 11-9, 6-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-5 (49m)

[R2] (10) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) vs (5) Nicol David (MAS,6)

This was Joshna's 350th PSA match and she won this close match against Sam Cornett ... Both players played fast-paced squash and Sam was a more active player on the court ... But after four games Sam was tired and Joshna took advantage of it ... Next, she is having a tough match against a legendary Nicol David.

Tennis News

At $250K Hobart WTA International 2018, Australia

[R1] Kaitlyn Christian (G) (USA)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) l (4) Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)/ Makoto Ninomiya (JPN) 26 57

The 4th seed pair proved better of Prarthana and her American partner.

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At $50K+H Bangkok-1A Challenger 2018, Thailand

[Q3] (1) Sidharth Rawat (IND,542) bt (8) Timur Khabibulin (KAZ,788) 26 76(5) 4-4 retd.

[R1] (Q) Sidharth Rawat (IND,542) vs Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul (THA,487)

Sid moved into the maindraw when Khabibulin retired in the third set ... He will be facing Thai Trongcharoenchaikul in the first round.

Squash News

At $165K Women's PSA Masters 2018, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

[R1] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,20) bt (16) Salma Hany (EGY,18) 11-6, 12-10, 11-2 (23m)
[R1] (10) Joshna Chinappa (IND,14) vs Samantha Cornett (CAN,26)

[R2] Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND,20) vs (7) Alison Waters (ENG,10)

Joshna and Dipika r playing in Riyadh Masters ... Dipika started the new season with straight games win over a talented young Egyptian Hany ... In the second round, she will be facing WR #10, Alison Waters.

Tennis News

At $469K Sydney International, Australia

[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs Ivan Dodig (CRO)/ Fernando Verdasco (ESP)

Rohan and Edouard partnership for 2018 season begin in Sydney International ... They r facing an experienced Dodig and Verdasco in the first round.

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At $501K ASB Classic 2018, Auckland, New Zealand

[R1] (WC) Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) vs Marcin Matkowski (POL)/ Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)

Lee and Purav have received wild-card in Auckland ... They r facing Aisam-Marcin in the first round.

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At $250K Hobart WTA International 2018, Australia

[R1] Kaitlyn Christian (G) (USA)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) vs (4) Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)/ Makoto Ninomiya (JPN)

This week Prarthana is playing with American Kaitlyn Christian ... They r having a tough match against top-50 ranked doubles players.

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At $50K+H Bangkok-1A Challenger 2018, Thailand

[Q1] (1) Sidharth Rawat (IND,542) bye
[Q2] (1) Sidharth Rawat (IND,542) bt Wei-De Lin (TPE,1415) 46 61 76(6)

[Q3] (1) Sidharth Rawat (IND,542) vs (8) Timur Khabibulin (KAZ,788)

[R1] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,428) vs (7) Yusuke Takahashi (JPN,282)

Doubles
[R1] (3) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND)/ Christopher Rungkat (INA) vs Ti Chen (TPE)/ Flavio Cipolla (ITA)

Sasi is in the main-draw and facing 7th seed Takahashi ... Sid is also in the final qualifying and facing Timur Khabibulin.

In the doubles, Jeevan is back with Rungkat and they r facing Ti Chen and Cipolla.

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At $75K Canberra Challenger 2018, Australia

[R1] (2) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (WC) Jeremy Beale (AUS)/ Thomas Fancutt (AUS)

Divij is in Australia and partnering Erlich ... They r facing a local wild-card pair in the first round.

Tennis News

At $561K Tata Open Maharashtra 2018, Pune, India

[SF] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) l Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)/ Gilles Simon (FRA) 46 67(2)

The French pair of Herbert and Simon proved strong for Divij and Yuki as they scored the straight sets win over our pair.

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At $250K ASB WTA Classic 2018, Auckland, New Zealand

[QF] Magdalena Frech (POL)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) l (2) Nao Hibino (JPN)/ Darija Jurak (CRO) 64 67(3) 3-10

Prarthana gave fighting performance with Frech against the 2nd seed pair ... They won the first set but failed to complete win in the second set tie-break ... The 2nd seeds dominated the match tie-break.

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At Australian Open 2018, Melbourne

As per update, Divij Sharan will be partnered Rajeev Ram at the Australian Open ... So Divij having solid partner in Rajeev and with a favorable draw they can go deep in the first grand slam of 2018.

Tennis News

At Asia/Oceania Group I in Fed Cup 2018, New Delhi, India

Indian Women's Team - Ankita Raina (259), Karman Kaur Thandi (285), Pranjala Yadlapalli (482) and Prarthana Thombare (D 144)
Reserved - Rutuja Bhosale (536), Zeel Desai (625)

No surprise in Fed Cup selection as our all top three singles players get selected and the second best doubles player Prarthana selected after Sania withdrew due to injury ... Rutuja and Zeel get selected as the reserve players.

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At $561K Tata Open Maharashtra 2018, Pune, India

[QF] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt (1) Robert Lindstedt (SWE)/ Franko Skugor (CRO) 75 26 10-6
[QF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) l Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)/ Gilles Simon (FRA) 36 57

[SF] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)/ Gilles Simon (FRA)

Divij scored an huge upset win with Yuki against the top-seeds in the match tie-break ... After winning the tight first set our pair lost the second set easily ... But they recovered to win the match tie-break convincingly ... Next, they r facing big serving French pair of Simon-Herbert ... Simon-Herbert defeated defending champions Rohan and Jeevan in the straight sets.

Tennis News

At $561K Tata Open Maharashtra 2018, Pune, India

[R2] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,148) l (1) Marin Cilic (CRO,6) 46 36
[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,116) l (8) Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA,81) 64 36 46

Doubles
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Laslo Djere (SRB)/ Blaz Kavcic (SLO) 62 62

[QF] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs (1) Robert Lindstedt (SWE)/ Franko Skugor (CRO)

RamK gave spirited performance against WR #6 Cilic in his straight sets loss ... In the first set, Cilic broke RamK in the 8th game and was serving for the set ... RamK put pressure on Cilic's serve and with the help of Cilic's unforced errors broke him in the 9th game ... RamK failed to hold in the next for losing the set ... In thr second set, Cilic played control game and with a break advantage completed win.

Yuki missed big opportunities in this match as he had numerous chances in the third set ... In the first set, Yuki broke Herbert early and kept that advantage for winning the set ... In the second set, Yuki lost focus and dipped his game ... Herbert broke him in the 2nd game to lead 3-0 and Herbert kept that advantage for winning it comfortably ... In the third, Yuki was putting pressure on Herbert's serve ... In 2nd and 4th games Yuki had 3 break points at 0-40, but he missed all six break points ... Yuki lost his serve in the 5th game, after that Herbert served big and didn't give chance to Yuki for winning the match.

Yuki-Divij scored a dominating win over their opponents inside 55 mins ... Next, they r facing top-seed Lindstedt-Skugor for place in the semis.

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At $250K ASB WTA Classic 2018, Auckland, New Zealand

[QF] Magdalena Frech (POL)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) vs (2) Nao Hibino (JPN)/ Darija Jurak (CRO)

Prarthana and her Polish partner will be faced 2nd seeds in the quarters.

Tennis News

At $561K Tata Open Maharashtra 2018, Pune, India

[R1] (Q) Sumit Nagal (IND,223) l (Q) Ilya Ivashka (BLR,230) 36 36
[R1] Yuki Bhambri (IND,116) bt (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND,603) 63 64

[R2] Yuki Bhambri (IND,116) vs (8) Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA,81)

Doubles
[R1] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt Leander Paes (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) 63 62

[QF] (4) Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)/ Gilles Simon (FRA)

As expected win for Yuki but Arjun won hearts with his game ... Really good service action, better net game and hit good groundies on both side flanks ... Yuki also was delight to watch and he was a better player on the court but Arjun gave fighting performance ... Next, he is facing 8th seed Frenchman Herbert ... But a disappointing straight sets loss of Sumit against fellow qualifier ... Sumit missed a big opportunity to go deep in this ATP tournament.

Again it showed if Jeevan finds regular good partner then he can be top-25 doubles player ... A dominating win with Rohan by Jeevan over Leander and Purav ... Jeevan played superb tennis and Rohan complemented his game ... Purav struggled with his game and Lee looked a bit slow near net ... Next, they r facing French pair.

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At $250K ASB WTA Classic 2018, Auckland, New Zealand

[R1] Magdalena Frech (POL)/ Prarthana Thombare (IND) bt Mona Barthel (GER)/ Donna Vekic (CRO) 57 63 10-8.

Prarthana started her 2018 season with a win on the tour with her Polish partner ... They scored a comeback win over their German-Croatian opponents.

Tennis News

At $561K Tata Open Maharashtra 2018, Pune, India

[R1] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,148) bt Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP,106) 76(4) 62

[R2] (WC) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,148) vs (1) Marin Cilic (CRO,6)

Doubles
[R1] (WC) N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) l Adil Shamasdin (CAN)/ Neal Skupski (GBR) 63 67(8) 6-10
[R1] (WC) Arjun Kadhe (IND)/ Benoit Paire (FRA) l (2) Robin Haase (NED)/ Matwe Middelkoop (NED) 61 57 7-10

RamK books his next match with another top-10 player, WR #6 Marin Cilic ... He defeated Roberto in the straight sets ... Both players played a close first set, but RamK served well and managed to put pressure on Roberto's serve ... Ramk had a couple of break points but failed to convert but he won the tie-break comfortably ... In the second set, RamK broke Roberto in 3rd game to lead 2-1, but he was 15-40 down on his serve in the next game ... RamK saved both break points to keep advantage, 3-1 ... RamK missed a break point in the 5th game but he again broke Roberto in the 7th game and hold his serve for comfortable victory.

Our both doubles pairs lost in the match tie-breaks, I was hoping at least a win for Bala and Vishnu considering home advantage ... They missed match points in the second set tie-break and that cost them the match ... Arjun-Benoit gave spirited performance, they won the first set comfortably ... But from the second set, Dutch pair started putting pressure on Arjun and Benoit's services and that paid dividend ... It was heartening to see Arjun matched these top players on the court but lost the match due to some unforced errors from Arjun-Benoit in the match tie-break.