Former world No. 1 doubles star and multiple Grand Slam champion Leander Paes was beaten, in partnership with Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic, in the doubles semifinals of the $125,000 men’s Challenger tennis tournament in Irving, U.S.
The Indo-Czech pair, which was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by the second seeded Chris Guccione of Australia and Andre Sa of Brazil, collected $2700 and 40 ATP points.
Divij Sharan emphasised his singles game yet again as he beat third seed Yannik Reuter of Belgium 7-6(4), 6-4 in the first qualifying round of the $75,000 Challenger in Mexico. However, Vijay Sundar Prashanth was beaten in the second qualifying round by third seed Artem Smirnov of Ukraine, in the $75,000 Challenger in Shenzhen, China.
Prarthana Thombare, in partnership with Akiko Omae of Japan, lost the first doubles match in two weeks as the Indo-Japanese pair was beaten 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the $25,000 ITF women’s event in Irapuato, Mexico, by top seeds Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadia Kichenok of Ukraine.
The results:
$125,000 Challenger men, Irving, U.S.:
Doubles (semifinals): Chris Guccione (Aus) & Andre Sa (Bra) bt Lukas Rosol (Cze) & Leander Paes 6-3, 6-2.
$75,000 Challenger men, Shenzhen, China:
Qualifying singles (second round): Artem Smirnov (Ukr) bt Vijay Sundar Prashanth 6-3, 6-2.
$50,000 Challenger men, San Luis Potosi, Mexico:
Qualifying singles (first round): Divij Sharan bt Yannik Reuter (Bel) 7-6(4), 6-4.
$25,000 ITF men, Mornington, Australia:
Qualifying singles (second round): Neeraj Elangovan bt Joel Herbert (Aus) 6-4, 6-1; first round: Neeraj Elangovan bt Joshua Boots (Aus) 7-5, 6-2.
$25,000 ITF men, Calabasas, U.S.:
Qualifying singles (first round): Joan Soler (Fra) w.o. Somdev Devvarman; Jared Thompkins (U.S.) bt Palash Tiwari 6-3, 6-4.
$25,000 ITF women, Irapuato, Mexico:
Doubles (final): Lyudmyla Kichenok & Nadia Kichenok (Ukr) bt Akiko Omae (Jpn) & Prarthana Thombare 6-1, 6-4.
$25,000 ITF women, Canberra, Australia:
Qualifying singles (second round): Natasha Palha bt Sasha Alexander (Aus) 6-3, 6-2.
