PRESS RELEASE February 16, 2023 – Chennai, India
India’s Sumit Nagal advanced to the quarter-finals of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger tournament at the SDAT Stadium on Thursday with a three-set win over lucky loser Jason Jung. In doubles, the top seeded duo Sriram Balaji/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan also won to move into the semi-finals as did the Indo-British pairing of Arjun Kadhe and Jay Clarke.
Nagal started slow against Jung, who had lost in the final round of the qualifiers before stepping in as a replacement in the main draw. After losing the first set, the 25-year-old stormed back to win 12 of the next 14 games and complete the 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 win in one hour and 57 minutes.
Nagal will next face Britain’s Jay Clarke, who upset the No. 8 seed Dimitar Kuzmanov 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a two-hour, 34-minute marathon. Friday’s singles quarter-finals will also feature an all-Australian clash with second seed James Duckworth taking on Wimbledon men’s doubles champion Max Purcell.
31-year-old Duckworth put an end to the run of 19-year-old Serb Hamad Medjedovic to win 6-2, 7-6 while 24-year-old Purcell defeated Czech qualifier Petr Nouza 7-5, 6-3.
In doubles, the local favourites Balaji/ Nedunchezhiyan came through to win the all-Indian quarter-final showdown over Nagal/ Sasikumar Mukund 7-6, 6-0 in one hour and 14 minutes and move into the semi-finals where they will meet Sebastian Ofner/ Nino Serdarusic, who overcame Ryan Peniston/ Dalibor Svrcina 6-1, 6-7, 10-4.
India’s Arjun Kadhe and British partner Jay Clarke also advanced to the last four with a 1-6, 7-6, 10-8 upset win over third seeds JiSung Nam/ MinKyu. They will meet Nouza and fellow Czech Andrew Paulson, who defeated the Italian duo Luca Nardi/ Francesco Maestrelli 6-3, 6-4.
Friday will see the completion of all singles quarter-finals and doubles semi-final matches. The Chennai Open ATP Challenger is being organized by the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) and entry for spectators is free throughout the entire week.
Singles second round results:
- [2] J. Duckworth (AUS) d H. Medjedovic (SRB) 62 76(3)
- J. Clarke (GBR) d [8] D. Kuzmanov (BUL) 36 63 64
- [Q] S. Nagal (IND) d [LL] J. Jung (TPE) 36 62 60
- M. Purcell (AUS) d [Q] P. Nouza (CZE) 75 63
Men’s Doubles Quarterfinals
- [1] N. Balaji (IND) / J. Nedunchezhiyan (IND) d [WC] S. Nagal (IND) / M. Sasikumar (IND) 76(5) 60
- J. Clarke (GBR) / A. Kadhe (IND) d [3] J. Nam (KOR) / M. Song (KOR) 16 76(8) 10-8
- S. Ofner (AUT) / N. Serdarusic (CRO) d R. Peniston (GBR) / D. Svrcina (CZE) 61 67(3) 10-4
P. Nouza (CZE) / A. Paulson (CZE) d F. Maestrelli (ITA) / L. Nardi (ITA) 63 64
Photos by Srividya Balayogi
