Davis Cupper Saketh Myneni cruised past Vaclav Safranek of the Czech Republic in the first round of the $162,480 Challenger tennis tournament in China on Monday.
In the second round, Saketh will clash with compatriot and second seed, the 82nd ranked Prajnesh Gunneswaran.
Prajnesh has a 2-1 win-loss record against the 244th-ranked Saketh in the professional circuit. Interestingly, Saketh and Prajnesh will play doubles as a pair.
Like Prajnesh, fifth seed Ramkumar Ramanathan also had a bye in the first round. He will play Yan Bai of China who ousted Sasi Kumar Mukund for the loss of five games.
Rohan Bopanna in partnership with Dominic Inglot of Britain ran into third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares and got beaten in a thriller, 4-6, 6-3, 13-11 in the first round of doubles in the €5,585,030 ATP 1000 tennis tournament in Monte Carlo.
The results:
€5,585,030 ATP 1000, Monte Carlo, Monaco
Doubles (first round): Jamie Murray (GBR) & Bruno Soares (Bra) bt Dominic Inglot (GBR) & Rohan Bopanna 4-6, 6-3, [13-11].
$162,480 Challenger, Anning, China
Singles (first round): Yan Bai (Chn) bt Sasi Kumar Mukund 6-1, 6-4; Saketh Myneni bt Vaclav Safranek (Cze) 6-2, 6-4.
