Balaji, Vishnu enter quarterfinals

Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan were equally at ease on red clay in the German Challenger, and sailed into the doubles quarterfinals.

Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan entered the quarterfinals. (File Photo)

Third seed Ramkumar Ramanathan was beaten 6-0, 6-4 by Evgeny Karlovskiy of Russia in the first round of the $75,000 Challenger in Winnetka.

The defeat apart, Ramkumar would be able to focus a lot better on his tennis in the coming days as he has been sanctioned Rs.12.57 lakh by the government under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) scheme for availing the services of coach Angel Gimenez Alonso, apart from meeting competition and equipment expenses,  leading up to the Asian Games.

Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan, who enjoyed a remarkable breakthrough into the Wimbledon main draw and won a round, were equally at ease on red clay in the German Challenger, and sailed into the doubles quarterfinals.

Ankita Raina endured another tough outing and beat Gabriella Da Silva Fick of Brazil in three sets to make the quarterfinals of the ITF women’s event in Thailand.

In another ITF women’s event in Hong Kong, qualifier Ashmitha Easwaramurthi survived two match points to beat seventh seed Chin Wei Chan of Chinese Taipei 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) for a berth in the quarterfinals.