Myneni, Poonacha create upsets

Bengaluru, February 11

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National champion Niki Poonacha recorded the biggest win of his career by knocking out Lucas Rosol from the Bengaluru Open.

The 24-year-old wildcard entrant won 6-4 2-6 6-3 in one hour and 45 minutes in the opening round of the $162480 hardcourt ATP Challenger tournament.

“I am thrilled to have reached this stage of a Challenger event which was my dream since the last year. And having beaten a seeded player I am even more happy,” said Poonacha.

In the other upset of the day, last edition’s runners-up Saketh Myneni sent sixth seed Evgeny Donskoy of Russia packing with a 6-3 6-3 win, while qualifier Abhinav Shanmugam prevailed over Daniel Masur of Germany 7-5 6-3.

Comeback

Myneni, ranked 192, got broken in the third game and was down 1-3 in the next. However, he came back strongly to win the next five games on the trot with breaks in the 6th and 8th games to take the first set. The Indian broke the Russian in the third game to gain an advantage and broke again in the ninth to take the set and the match. — PTI