Yuki Bhambri gets off to a flying start at Tata Open Maharashtra

The
29-year-old
Indian,
who
had
started
directly
into
the
main
draw
at
the
South
Asia’s
only
ATP
250,
secured
a
6-7
(10),
6-2,
7-5
win
in
his
opener.
The
tournament,
which
is
organised
by
the
Maharashtra
State
Lawn
Tennis
Association,
will
be
played
till
February
6.

After
losing
the
hard-fought
first
set,
the
former
junior
world
number
one,
who
made
a
comeback
into
the
international
circuit
recently
after
a
two-year
break
due
to
injury,
started
the
second
with
2-0
lead
and
looked
in
good
touch.
He
didn’t
let
the
momentum
shift
away
before
bagging
the
set
easily
and
levelling
the
scores.

“Letting
the
first
game
slip
was
a
bit
yo
yo.
Sat
down,
got
back
but
because
it
is
so
close
and
felt
so
comfortable
that
gave
me
confidence
to
keep
attacking
which
helped
me
in
the
second
set
in
the
end,”
Bhambri
said
after
the
match.

In
the
decider,
the
Delhi-born
player
converted
a
break
point
to
take
the
scores
at
3-3
and
then
added
one
more
set
point
to
keep
himself
ahead
in
the
game.

Though
the
29-year-old
Slovakian
tried
his
best
to
make
a
comeback
into
the
contest,
Bhambri
held
his
nerves
and
clinched
the
decider
to
advance
into
the
second
round.

Prajnesh
Gunneswaran
is
the
other
Indian
who
will
be
in
action
in
the
singles
main
draw
later
tonight,
He
will
take
on
fifth-seed
German
Daniel
Altmaier.

Earlier
France’s
Quentin
Halys
sent
World
No.
82
Ricardas
Berankis
of
Lithuania
packing
with
a
stunning
6-1,
6-2
win.

The
World
No.
141
Halys
of
France
looked
quite
confident
against
the
higher-ranked
opponent
as
he
hardly
gave
any
opportunity
to
Berankis.

In
the
other
round-of-32
match,
former
World
No.
39
Moldovan
Radu
Albot
faced
a
tough
challenge
from
Federico
Gaio
of
Italy
in
the
second
set
but
managed
to
sail
through
with
a
6-2,
7-6
(7-3)
victory
in
the
end.

Meanwhile,
top-seeded
Australian
pair
of
Like
Saville
and
John-Patrick
Smith
lived
up
to
the
expectations
as
they
defeated
Stefano
Travaglia
and
Bernabe
Zapata
Miralles
in
straight
sets
6-1,
6-4.
In
the
other
doubles
opening
round
match,
French
duo
of
Sadio
Doumbia
and
Fabien
Reboul
outclassed
the
third-seeded
pair
of
Szymon
Walkow
and
Jan
Zielinski
6-3,
7-6
(7-5)
to
move
into
the
Last-8
stage.

In
the
singles
qualifying
matches
played
on
Monday,
Czech
Republic’s
Vita
Kopriva
stunned
top-seed
Turkish
player
Altug
Celikbilek
with
a
hard-fought
6-7
(7-4),
6-3,
7-5
win
and
made
his
way
into
the
main
draw.

Swedish
player
Elias
Ymer
also
secured
an
entry
into
the
main
draw
with
an
easy
6-4,
6-4
win
over
Australian
Marc
Polmans.
British
Jay
Clarke
and
Gian
Marco
Moroni
of
Australia
were
the
other
two
players,
who
emerged
victorious
in
the
final
qualifying
round
and
entered
the
main
draw.

Source:
Media
Release