Eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain dropped by the wayside as unheralded players stepped up their game on the second day of the Chennai Open on Tuesday.
Agut, ranked 58th in the world, was stunned by Russian qualifier Alexander Kudryavtsev 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in a match marked by baseline rallies at the Nungambakkam Tennis Centre.
“It was a hard match for me,” the Spaniard said. “He is a player who runs for every ball and hits the ball very hard. I was not able to play like I wanted to.”
Kudryavtsev’s second-round opponent will be Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, who fought off a spirited challenge from Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen before winning 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7/0).
Seventh seed Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France qualified for a second-round clash against Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Spaniard Albert Ramos.
“It was very hot and humid out there, and that made it tough for me as the match went on,” the 30-year-old Frenchman said. “I am just glad it did not go into a third set.”
Indian wild-card Yuki Bhambri delighted the home fans with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Pablo Carreno Busta, who had been voted the ATP’s most improved player last year after jumping 650 places in the rankings.
The Spaniard, ranked 64 against Bhambri’s 195, was unable to settle down against the Indian’s aggressive play and went out in his first appearance in the tournament.
Bhambri, who faces third seed Fabio Fognini of Italy in the second round, said he is looking forward to playing a tougher opponent.
“Hopefully, I can take the confidence from this victory into my next match,” the Indian No. 2 said. “He will probably be rusty and I will try to take advantage of that.”
Fognini, recovering from a leg strain, withdrew from the doubles where he was to partner Indian veteran Leander Paes, but he is expected to be fit for the singles match.
Chennai-based Ramkumar Ramanathan, playing his maiden ATP Tour match, gave local fans another reason to celebrate when he came from behind to stun better-known compatriot Somdev Devvarman 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The top four seeds — Stanislas Wawrinka, Mikhail Youzhny, Fognini and Benoit Paire — were in action from yesterday after being handed first-round byes.
Benjamin Becker of Germany, who was leading 6-4, 2-1 when his opponent Julian Reiser pulled out with stomach cramps, plays Wawrinka for a place in the quarter-finals.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez toyed with Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-0, but sixth-seeded Spanish compatriot Marcel Granollers received a scare from Radu Albot of Moldova before winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-0.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set