Press Release February 13, 2023 – Chennai, India
India will have four players in the Chennai Open ATP Challenger main draw with the country’s third and fourth highest ranked players, Sasikumar Mukund and Sumit Nagal, winning their final round qualifying matches at the SDAT Tennis Stadium on Monday.
26-year-old Mukund, who was born in Chennai itself, scored the big upset of the day beating Jason Jung, the top seed in qualifying, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 24 minutes and will meet 2022 Wimbledon men’s doubles champion Max Purcell in the first round of the main draw.
Nagal had an easier time beating Ji Sung Nam 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 28 minutes to secure his place in the main draw where he faces fourth seed Ryan Peniston, of Great Britain. The two Indians join their compatriots, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ramkumar Ramanathan, who both received wild card entries, in the 32-player main draw. All four Indians will play their first round matches on Tuesday.
The third Indian in the final qualifying round, Digvijay Pratap Singh, went down fighting 2-6, 6-7 to James McCabe.
Monday also saw the kick-off of first round main draw singles matches with Seong Chan Hong causing a huge upset to beat third seed Sebastian Ofner 6-4, 6-3 in the first round. Top seed Chun-hsin Tseng, ranked No. 132 in the world, survived a tough battle against Nino Serdarusic before prevailing 6-4, 7-6 in one hour and 58 minutes.
Yasutaka Uchiyama, Nicolas Moreno de Alboran and Arthur Cazaux also won their first round matches to advance to the round of 16.
The tournament is being organized by the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) and entry for spectators is free throughout the entire week.
Main Draw Singles first round results:
- (1) Chun-hsin Tseng def. Nino Serdarusic 6-4, 7-6
- Seong Chan Hong def. (3) Sebastian Ofner 6-4, 6-3
- Yasutaka Uchiyama def. Marc Polmans 6-4, 7-6
- Nicolas Moreno de Alboran def. Frederico Ferreira Silva 6-3, 6-2
- Arthur Cazaux def. Hoang Nam Ly 6-3, 6-2
Qualifying draw Final round results:
- Sasikumar Mukund def. (1) Jason Jung 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
- (2) Alibek Kachmazov def. (7) Vladyslav Orlov 6-4, 7-6
- (3) James McCabe beats Digvijay Pratap Singh 6-2, 7-6
- (5) Carlos Sanchez Jover def. (8) Benjamin Lock 6-3, 7-5
- Petr Nouza def. (6) Andrew Paulson 6-3, 6-4
- Sumit Nagal def. Ji Sung Nam 6-1, 6-3
Photos by Srividya Balayogi
