PRESS RELEASE

Chennai February 6, 2024: Local favourites, second seed Sumit Nagal and wildcard entrant Sasikumar Mukund, brought cheer to the home fans by scoring wins in the first round of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger at the SDAT Stadium on Tuesday. 

Nagal, who is ranked a career-high No 121 in the world, defeated qualifier S.D. Prajwal Dev 6-1, 6-2 in one hour and 18 minutes while Mukund served 10 aces and displayed fluent ground strokes to out play Poland’s Maks Kasnikowski 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 20 minutes. However, Ramkumar Ramanathan’s singles campaign came to an end with a 6-7 (3), 2-6 loss at the hands of sixth seed Oriol Roca Batalla. 

Nagal was joined by other top seeds in the second round; top seed Luca Nardi eased past Eric Vanshelboim 6-2, 6-2 and third seed Dalibor Svrcina defeated qualifier Bogdan Bobrov 6=3, 2-6, 6-2. 

Also on Tuesday, former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Bernard Tomic showed his experience as he advanced to the last 16 with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) win over qualifier Olaf Pieczkowski. The Australian, a former world No 17, will face top seed Nardi next. 

The Chennai Open ATP Challenger is being hosted with the support of the Government of Tamil Nadu and The Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu. The sponsors include Coromandel International (Platinum), Indian Bank (Gold), Kauvery Hospitals (Medical Partner) Lancor Group (Silver). The Park Hotels is the Hospitality Partner, ACT Fibernet is the Fibernet Partner, and Chennai Live is the Digital App partner. 

The Chennai Open is the first in a series of ATP Challenger 100 events to be held in India. The tournaments to follow are scheduled to be held at Bengaluru, Pune, and Delhi. Entry for spectators is free and to make it more convenient, organizers have scheduled some matches under flood lights as well. 

The Doubles finals will be played on Saturday February 10, 2024 while the singles final has been scheduled for Sunday February 11, 2024. The tournament is looking forward to the participation of the tennis fans from all over Chennai. 

Chennai Open ATP Challenger Results, Tuesday February 6, 2024 

Singles Main Draw First Round 

Luca Nardi (ITA) def. [Q] Eric Vanshelboim (UKR) 6-2, 6-2 

Sumit Nagal (IND) def. [Q] S. D. Prajwal Dev (IND) 6-1, 6-2 

Dalibor Svrcina (CZE) def. [Q] Bogdan Bobrov 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 

Ugo Blanchet (FRA) def. [Q] Jonas Forejtek (CZE) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) 

Oriol Roca Batalla (ESP) def. [WC] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) 7-6 (3), 6-2 

Aziz Dougaz (TUN) def. [Alt] Samuel Vincent Ruggeri (ITA) 6-3, 6-3 

Moez Echargui (TUN) def. [8] Yu Hsiou Hsu (TPE) 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-5 

Bernard Tomic (AUS) def. [Q] Olaf Pieczkowski (POL) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 

[WC] Sasikumar Mukund (IND) def. Maks Kasnikowski (POL) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 

Enrico Dalla Valle (ITA) def. [Q] Alexey Zakharov 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 

Chun Hsin Tseng (TPE) def. [WC] Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) 6-4, 6-4 

Evgeny Donskoy def. Tung-Lin Wu (TPE) 3-2 retd.