Bengaluru, May 20 (PTI) Seasoned Mukund Sasikumar entered the quarterfinals, overcoming Japanese qualifier Taiyo Yamanaka in a tight contest at the SM Krishna Memorial Open tennis tournament here on Wednesday.
The experienced Mukund held his nerve in key moments to beat Yamanaka 6-4, 7-6 (1) in the pre-quarterfinals.
Teenage wild card Kriish Tyagi produced a spirited fight against third seed Hamish Stewart of Great Britain, stretching him to three sets. But the Indian went down 6-4, 4-6, 3-6.
Earlier, Mukund struck decisively in the 10th game of the opening set, breaking Yamanaka to pocket the set 6-4.
The second set evolved into a tighter contest, with the Japanese player using his strong serve effectively and firing nine aces compared to Mukund’s six.
Yamanaka broke in the seventh game and appeared poised to force a decider, but Mukund showed remarkable resilience, saving a set point while trailing in the 10th game before breaking back and dragging the contest into a tiebreak.
From there, the Indian dominated, conceding just one point to seal victory in one hour and 46 minutes.
Mukund’s consistency proved decisive, with the Indian committing 22 unforced errors against Yamanaka’s 31.
Mukund also is in contention in the doubles as he progressed to the quarterfinals alongside Adil Kalyanpur.
The Indian duo registered a clinical 6-3, 7-5 victory over alternate pair Dominik Palan (Czech Republic) and Digvijaypratap Singh.
Meanwhile, Sidharth Rawat’s campaign in the singles ended against sixth seed Ognjen Milic of Serbia, who recorded a 6-3, 6-1 win.
The fairytale run of wild card Manish Sureshkumar, who stunned top seed and Karnataka Open champion Keegan Smith in the first round, also came to an end.
The Indian struggled to find rhythm against former World No. 40 Ilya Ivashka, bowing out 1-6, 1-6. PTI UNG ATK
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