Sumit Nagal, Ramkumar Ramanathan advance to pre-quarterfinals in Pune ATP Challenger

Nagal defeated Chinese Taipei’s Yu Hsiou Hsu 7(6)-6, 6-4 at the centre court at the Mhalunge Balewadi Tennis Stadium.

Top seeded Sumit Nagal and wildcard Ramkumar Ramanathan on Tuesday entered the pre-quarterfinals of the ATP Challenger 100 international tournament after winning their respective round of 32 matches here on Tuesday.

India's Sumit Nagal, who won the ATP Challenger in Chennai and reached the semifinals in Bengaluru, came back from a break down in the second set to record his win in two hours and five minutes.(PTI)

Nagal defeated Chinese Taipei’s Yu Hsiou Hsu 7(6)-6, 6-4 at the centre court at the Mhalunge Balewadi Tennis Stadium.

Nagal, who won the ATP Challenger in Chennai and reached the semifinals in Bengaluru, came back from a break down in the second set to record his win in two hours and five minutes.

On the other hand, in a thrilling contest which lasted one hour and 55 minutes, Ramanathan scored a 7-6(5) 7-6(5) win over 160th ranked Stefano Napolitano, who won the Bengaluru Open last week.

The 101-ranked Nagal will now take on compatriot Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha for a spot in the quarterfinals, while Ramanathan will lock horns with Russia’s Alexy Zakahrov.

Also moving to the round of 16 was Australia’s Adam Walton, who recorded a 7-6 (1), 6-2 win over Belgian qualifier Raphael Collignon.

The fourth seed Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot defeated the former world No 25, Vasek Pospisil 6-3, 7-5.

South Korea’s Seongchan Hong, a finalist in the Bengaluru Open, lost to Poland’s Maks Kasnikowski 4-6, 2-6. Oriol Roca Batalla, a semi-finalist last week, was knocked out by USA’s Tristian Boyer 2-6, 6-4, 2-6.

In the doubles, Indian wildcards Siddhant Banthia and Parikshit Somani advanced to the quarterfinals with a 5-7, 7-6 (5), 10-5 win over Luca Margaroli and Goncalo Oliveira.

But the fourth seeds Sriram Balaji and Andre Begemann were beaten by Japan’s Toshihide Matsui/Kaito Uesugi 4-6, 7-6 (5), 10-5.