PRESS RELEASE
Chennai February 9, 2024: India’s Sumit Nagal stormed into the singles semi-finals while local doubles teams set up an all-Indian clash in the doubles final at the Chennai Open ATP Challenger, being held at the SDAT Stadium.
Nagal, who will reach a new career-high ranking next week thanks to his run in Chennai this week, needed one hour and 25 minutes to beat Dominik Palan 6-3, 6-3. He will meet third seed Dalibor Svrcina, who ended the run of Indian wildcard Sasikumar Mukund.
27-year-old Mukund saved a setpoint to win the first set in a tiebreaker before the Czech came back to win the second set 6-2. In the decider, Mukund went down a break on two occasions but valiantly fought back each time before Svrcina broke for a third time in the tenth game to win 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and 48 minutes.
Top seed Luca Nardi, who qualified for the ATP Next Gen Finals in 2023, also advanced to the last four after coming through a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 win over fellow Italian Stefano Napilitano in just over two hours.
He will face Chinese Taipei’s Chun Hsin Tseng in Saturday’s semi-finals. Tseng scored a 7-5, 6-2 win over Italy’s Enrico Dalla Valle in one hour and 37 minutes.
In the doubles draw, Indian duo Saketh Myneni/ Ramkumar Ramanathan pulled off their second big upset of the week, defeating second seeded Japanese pairing of Toshihide Matsui/ Kaito Uesugi 6-3, 6-2. They will meet compatriots Rithvik Choudary Bollipali / Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha in the final. The fourth seeded Indian duo beat the German pairing of Jakob Schnaitter / Mark Wallner 6-3, 4-6, 10-7.
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, Friday February 9th, 2024
Singles Quarterfinals
[1] Luca Nardi (ITA) def. Stefano Napolitano (ITA) 6-4, 3-6, 6-0
[2] Sumit Nagal def. Dominik Palan 6-3, 6-3
[3] Dalibor Svrcina (CZE) def. [WC] Sasikumar Mukund (IND) 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-4
Chun Hsin Tseng (TPE) def. Enrico Dalla Valle (ITA) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles Semifinals
Saketh Myneni (IND)/ Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) def. [2] Toshihide Matsui (JPN)/ Kaito Uesugi (JPN) 6-3, 6-2
[4] Rithvik Choudary Bollipali (IND)/ Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND) def. Jakob Schnaitter (GER)/ Mark Wallner (GER) 6-3, 4-6, 10-7