Niki Poonacha asserted his maturity greater than his large sport as he sneaked previous Digvijay Pratap Singh 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2) within the first spherical of the $25,000 ITF males’s tennis event on the RK Khanna Stadium on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old NIki, a two-time National champion, confirmed athleticism, strike-power, and composure on the crunch to prevail within the energy-sapping contest on the centre-court.
Digvijay, who had overwhelmed Niki of their final skilled assembly in November final yr in three units, missed his possibilities when he had a bunch of break factors within the fifth sport of the decider. He additionally couldn’t serve it out at 6-5, which led to the tie-break.
Niki rose to the event and capitalised on the errors of Digvijay within the tie-break. After Digvijay double-faulted to be down 2-5, Niki got here with a bounce shot winner from past the baseline to offer himself 4 match factors. Digvijay put a forehand lengthy to deliver the curtains down on his problem.
In the one different singles match in the primary draw, Rohan Mehra beat Sarthak Suden in straight units. Rohan later joined Shivank Bhatnagar to knock out second seeds Adam Taylor and Eric Vanshelboim 10-5 within the tremendous tie-break of the doubles pre-quarterfinals.
The hero of the junior Davis Cup final yr on the identical venue, Rushil Khosla did nicely to win three matches within the qualifying occasion. He will play sixth seed Eric Vanshelboim of Ukraine within the first spherical.
The outcomes:
Singles (first spherical): Rohan Mehra bt Sarthak Suden 6-3, 7-5; Niki Poonacha bt Digvijay Pratap Singh 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2).
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Francis Casey Alcantara (Phi) & Pruchya Isaro (Tha) bt Grigoriy Lomakin (Kaz) & Vishnu Vardhan 6-4, 7-6(5); Yunseok Jang & Woobin Shin (Kor) bt Faisal Qamar & Fardeen Quamar 6-2, 4-6, [14-12]; Shivank Bhatnagar & Rohan Mehra bt Adam Taylor (Aus) & Eric Vanshelboim (Ukr) 6-7(2), 6-4, [10-5].