ITF Belgaum Open update

The third day of ITF Belgaum Open at the VTU Tennis complex saw the biggest upset when a determined Portugese teenager Andre Gasper Murta knocked out the winner of last two weeks at Davangere & Dharwad and second seed Sanam Singh. Murta beat Singh in straight sets 7-6 (6), 6-3 in 1 hr 42 min.

Sanam started off confidently breaking Murta in the first & third games. Being up 3-0, Sanam failed to hold on to his service game. In the 5th game, Sanam again failed to capitalize on the breakpoint on Gasper’s serve and allowed his opponent to get back into the set. Gasper won 4 games in a row being down 0-3 to take a lead at 4-3. Sanam held his serve and broke Gasper in the 9th game to go up 5-4. It was trade of breaks again which pushed the set into a ti break. Sanam let go two set pints being up 6-4 in the tie break and allowed Gasper to take the set.

In the second set, Gasper broke Sanam twice in the 3rd and 9th game to take the set and match. Having lost the first set, Sanam showed signs of tiredness physically and mentally to stay and fight back in the second. This was probably a result of him winning the last 2 weeks and playing maximum matches. A strapped right hand also didn’t help his cause. He said “I had a great two weeks in Karnataka and couldn’t have asked for more. Gasper played well today and I congratulate him for the victory. I now would take a few days off probably in Goa and head to Chennai for the ATP tour.”

Gasper’s opponent in the quarter finals would be 8th seeded Dutch Jeroen Benard who ousted Abhijeet Tiwari in straight sets.

In other matches, the top seed Sriram Balaji survived a scare when another teenager Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash took the first set in a tie break. Balaji won the next at ease with the score reading 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-1. Balaji set up a quarter final face off against another Dutch Colin Van Beem who had taken out the 5th seed Russian sergei Kroitouk in the first round. Van Beem crushed Rohan Gide 6-0, 6-3 in another second round match today.

German qualifier Torsten Wietoska who has been enjoying a great run so far in Karnataka circuit, had some anxious moments when Jatin Dahiya won the first set. Torsten wuickly got his act together to take the next 2 sets and the match at 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

Indian teenager and Dharwad finalist Ramkumar Ramanathan wasted chances to beat the 3rd seeded Greek Theodoros Angelinos when the latter had the upper hand finally at 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4. It was a case of Ramanathan beating himself more than his opponent. It was lack of experience on his part and probably goes back with a good lesson learnt.

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Results

Singles (2nd round)

1. Andre Gasper Murta (Por) bt S-2 Sanam Singh 7-6 (6), 6-3

2. S-3 Theodoros Angelinos (Gre) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4

3. S-6 Michael shabaz (USA) bt Luca Margaroli (Sui) 6-3, 6-4

4. S-8 Jeroen Benard (Ned) bt Abijeet Tiwari 6-4, 6-4

5. S-1 Sriram Balaji bt Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-1

6. Torsten Wietoska (Ger) bt Jatin Dahiya 5-7, 6-1, 6-1

7. Ashwin Vijayraghavan bt Suraj Prabodh 6-4, 6-4

8. Colin Van Been (Ned) bt Suraj Prabodh 6-4, 6-2

Doubles (Quarterfinals)

1. S-1 Vijaysundar Prashanth / Arun Prakash Rajagopalan bt Kunal anand / Ronak Manuja 6-4, 3-6 [10-7]

2. Amrit Narasimhan (USA) / Michael Shabaz (USA) bt Theodoros Angelinos (Gre) / Sanam Singh 5-7, 6-4 [10-6]

3. S-2 Sergei Krotiouk (Rus) / Luca Margaroli (Sui) bt Jatin Dahiya / Sahahbaz Khan 6-4, 6-4

4. Rupesh Roy / Vive Shokeen bt Sriram Balaji / S-3 Vignesh Peranamallur / sriram Balaji 7-6 (3) 6-3