Former India No.1 Mukund Sasikumar, who made the QF in the Chennai Challenger last week, is excited for the Pune Challenger starting today. The 26 year old has received a singled main draw wildcard and will open against 8th seeded Federico Gaio from Italy, who’s ranked 202 on the ATP Rankings.
Mukund shares his thoughts ahead of the tournament:
Q) How do you feel coming into the Pune Challenger?
MS – Obviously super happy because I’ve been doing so well in the last couple of weeks, relatively well. After making the final of the 25 (ITF M25) in Chennai and the quarters in the Chennai Challenger.
Definitely a great opportunity for me to be the main draw here and it’s a tough qualifying field. So definitely so happy and very grateful for the wildcard.
Q) Any special memories from Pune?
MS – There’s so many. I think I made a quarter in 2018. I made my ATP main draw debut in 2020 on the centre court. The league here last year was super fun as well. So I’ve played a lot of quality matches on the centre court here. So there are great memories not just from the ATP Tour, but also from Juniors.
Q) Your expectations from the tournament?
MS – I’m excited. Definitely great conditions. My expectations are that I win a couple of matches at least and maybe go deeper into the tournament. That’s the reason every player compete and I think this year I am already in the form to do it. I will really try and bring my A game to the table. See you all during the matches!
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