In a major opening-day upset at the ATP 125 Bengaluru Open 2026, 18-year-old Manas Dhamne eliminated fifth seed and World No.231 Matej Dodig from Croatia to advance to the Round of 16. The Italy-based teenager from Maharashtra secured a career-best victory with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 scoreline. Dhamne played with maturity beyond his years, winning 78% of his first-serve points and converting 75% of his chances at the net.
Excerpts from this post match interview below –
Q) You did go on the attack on his second serve. Was that one of the ploy also?
MD – Yeah, I mean, I was trying to change the position on the second serve, of course, sometimes trying to step in, sometimes trying to step back here. I mean, I like to usually try to. I like to step in, but here it’s not easy. And especially also the way he serves. So, yeah, it was. It’s kind of my natural thing, which I do. It’s not really a tactic. It’s just a thing I do naturally. But then I also went back, and so it was just kind of adaptation with the returning.
Q) Comparatively, you were able to guess the direction of a serve in the third set as compared to the second set. So what were your tactics?
MD – It was just like a 50-50. It was just before the point. I decided to go this side and I go, yeah, it was because he does the serve with the same motion. So it was not really that I was reading it and I was going.
I was trying to make a guess because if I just could, it was going aces. So it was. It was just, you know, trying to like in football, when the goalkeeper was one side, it was just like a cycle one side.
Q) So you have played in Bangalore before. You said balls tend to fly more here. So what was the kind of preparation? Did that also guide you in how to play him because he’s also a big server?
MD – No, I mean, I played here last year as well, and I played an even bigger server and I lost 7-6 in the third set. So, I mean, I know how kind of it’s like to return.
You know, it’s just you have to find a way to win one game on the return. And then also, of course, you have to be focused on your serve and serve really well, which I feel I did today. So, yeah, also. Also during the practice days, we were trying to change a lot of return positions, trying to see what works.
And of course, every. Every day, every opponent is different. So it’s something we have to adapt at the moment situation. And also as the match went on, we started to, like, the third set, I think was in the lights and we started in the sun. So I don’t think makes a huge difference, but it makes a little bit of difference because the ball fluffs up a bit more.
Q) Taking down the sixth seed, what does it do to your confidence heading into the tournament?
MD – No, for sure. It’s really, really great way to start the year. And yeah, nothing it’s a really good confidence booster as it’s my biggest win ranking wise. And yeah, definitely I try to keep this tennis level at the next matches and next tournaments.
Q) We have observed in the last months and weeks, your game is now transitioning into a more aggressive style. Were you specifically working on this?
MD – I mean, we were. You know, it’s how tennis works. You know, you have to try to add things, work on things. And I feel I’m a good runner, good player from the baseline, but.
So, yeah, just we’re working you to do the things which are not probably my strengths or which I do less better than other things. And yeah, I guess it’s just a process, you know, today I did them better than the last tournaments and I feel we are working on it.
So probably in the next tournament you will see it even better than today. So, yeah, it’s just a process that you are doing.
Q) You also added some drop shots to your game…
MD – It’s just trying to, you know, do 40-45 minutes of work every day on the things. So it’s more natural. Like for some players it’s more natural to do certain volley, drop shots. Whereas for me it’s more natural to stay behind and play. So, yeah, we are working on it every day. Yeah, it’s just, you know, it starts to come when you work on some things every day.
Q) Any ranking goals for this year?
MD – I do. But I like to keep it to myself. If I say it here, I feel I would put pressure on myself.
Q) It’s still the first round but how happy are you to get this start of the season?
MD – For sure, definitely very happy. More than the win, I’m happy and like even more happy than the win for other things like the way I play because I feel the things we are working on are coming slowly, you know for sure that to get more and more better there is always chance to improve. But I feel we are in the right track. So for me that was more happier thing than the win.