Pune Challenger: Sidharth Rawat beats Arjun Kadhe, Manish Sureshkumar advances

Sidharth Rawat claimed a three-set win over local lad Arjun Kadhe, while Manish Sureshkumar beat 16th seed Rio Noguchi to advance in the Pune Open Challenger.

Manish Sureshkumar, ranked as low as 748, beat the 408th ranked Rio Noguchi 6-3, 7-6 (4) at the Pune Open Challenger on Tuesday.

Indian youngster Manish Sureshkumar got the better of 16th seed Japanese Rio Noguchi to move to the pre-quarterfinals, while Sidharth Rawat beat local favourite Arjun Kadhe at the Pune Challenger, here on Tuesday.

On a day when 11 Indians were in action, Sureshkumar, ranked as low as 748, beat the 408th ranked Noguchi 6-3 7-6 (4) in a one hour 36 minutes.

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The wiry 20-year-old from Chennai took the first set rather easily but Noguchi raced to a 4-2 lead in the second set. However, the Indian clawed his way back to close the match by clinching the tie-breaker. Manish played strongly in the tie break and hit two great forehand winners to seal the win, ensuring himself seven ATP points.

Qualifier and former national champion Dalwinder Singh proved too strong for compatriot Kunal Anand, winning 6-3, 6-4; while Kaza Vinayak Sharma, who made it to the main draw as an alternate, rode his luck to defeat qualifier Tejas Chaukulkar 7-6 (1), 6-7 (5), 6-4 in the longest match of the day lasting 2 hours and 16 minutes.

Rawat played solid tennis to oust Kadhe 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in one hour 40 minutes. Both players matched each other but a shoulder issue hurt Kadhe’s chances.

Greece’s Markos Kalovelonis beat Vijay Sundar Prashanth 6-2, 6-4 while Tunisian Aziz Dougaz held his nerve to claim a 6-3, 7-6 (3) win over Adil Kalyanpur.