NEW DELHI: India’s Sidharth Rawat cruised into the singles pre-quarterfinals of the Mysuru Open with an emphatic 6-3, 6-2 victory over Dali Blanch of USA at the Mysore Tennis Club in Mysuru on Tuesday.
Rawat, the seventh seed, was clinical in his execution and used his serve to telling effect. The Indian star had a stunning 100 percent success rate on his first serve while he collected 95 percent of points on his second serve as well en route to a facile win.
Earlier, Mysuru Open, an ITF World Tennis Tour event, was inaugurated by Dr KV Rajendra IAS, Mysuru Deputy Commissioner and chairman of organising committee, in the presence of chief guests Mr Arjun Ranga, MD of Cycle Pure Agarbathi and Mr Alex Cherian, JMD of Schevaran Laboratories Pvt Ltd.
Three other Indians too entered the Round of 16 and they were: Ishaque Eqbal who beat R Suraj Prabodh 7-6 (4), 6-0, Faisal Qamar who got the better of Rishi Reddy 6-1, 6-1 and Karan Singh, who tamed Grigoriy Lomakin of Kazhakistan 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3).
The USD 25,000 event is being hosted by the Karnataka Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA).
Indian players made their mark in style in the doubles Round of 16 as well. Leading the charge for the hosts were the top seeded pair of B Rithvik Choudary and Niki Poonacha. They had little trouble in warding off compatriots SD Prajwal Dev and G Sai Karteek Reddy 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6), 10-7 after a gruelling match of 1 hour and 58 minutes to enter the quarter-finals.
Fourth seeded pair of Parikshit Somani and Manish Sureshkumar too registered an easy win over fellow Indian duo of Tushar Madan and Lohithaksha Bathrinath 6-2, 6-3.
Results: Singles (R32): Ishaque Eqbal beat Suraj R Prabodh 7-6 (4), 6-0; Faisal Qamar beat Rishi Reddy 6-1, 6-1; Woobin Shin beat Madhwin Kamath 6-1, 1-0 (retired); (7) Sidharth Rawat beat Dali Blanch 6-3, 6-2; Karan Singh beat Grigoriy Lomakin 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3); Wei Kang Leong beat Sandesh Dattatray 7-5, 6-1
Results: Doubles (R16): Nitin Kumar Sinha / Florent Bax beat Digvijay Pratap Singh / Jagmeet Singh 6-3, 6-2; (4) Parikshit Somani / Manish Suresh Kumar beat Tushar Madan / Lohithaksha Bathrinath 6-2, 6-3 ; (1) B Rithvik Choudary / Niki Poonacha / SD Prajwal Dev / G Sai Karteek Reddy 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6), 10-7; Ellis Blake / Oriov Vladylav beat R Suraj Prabodh / Rishi Reddy 6-1, 6-2; F Qamar / F Quamar beat Chandril Sood / Lakshit Sood 1-6, 6-4, 10-8; Mukund Sasikumar / Vishnu Vardhan beat Casey Francis Alcantra / Pruchya Isaro 6-3, 6-2