Indian tennis round-up: Big upset for Divij Sharan, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan cruises

The Indian tennis players made merry on Diwali as Divij Sharan, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Sumit Nagal all notched up wins in their respective tournaments on Thursday. Sharan, in partnership with American Scott Lipsky, outlasted the third seeded combine of Rajeev Ram and Raven Klaasen 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 to reach the semi-finals of the ATP 250 European Open in Antwerp.

The Indo-American pair managed to convert just one break point out of the nine opportunities they got, yet was able to secure the huge win in 1 hour 19 minutes. It was a tight contest in which the winners finished with a total of 64 points in contrast to the third seeds’ 62.

Considering the fact that Ram and Klaasen have won two titles this year one of which is the Indian Wells Masters, this was a commendable achievement by Sharan and Lipsky indeed. The unseeded team next faces the second seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers for a place in the final.

The left-handed Sharan has been in impressive form of late. He teamed up with his compatriot, Yuki Bhambri to reach the final of the Tashkent Challenger just last week.

Indians face off in Ningbo Challenger

Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Sumit Nagal set up an exciting face-off when they won their respective doubles quarter-finals at the $125, 000 Ningbo Challenger in China. The top seeded pair of Nedunchezhiyan and Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia held their nerves for a thrilling 2-6, 6-2, 10-7 win over the Chinese wildcard combine of Di Wu and Yibing Wu in 1 hour 8 minutes.

The Chinese had excellent break point conversion rate and secured three breaks from their four opportunities. The top seeds, however, found success only thrice from 11 chances.

20-year-old Indian Sumit Nagal and Italian Riccardo Ghedin edged the Taipei combine of Hsien-Yin Peng and Tsung-Hua Yang 7-6(4), 7-6(8) in their quarter-final that lasted 1 hour 36 minutes.

The two converted a paltry two break points out of 10 while getting broken twice.

Vishnu Vardhan too was in the doubles draw and was seeded second alongside Japan’s Toshihide Matsui. The two suffered a shock 2-6, 3-6 first round defeat at the hands of the unheralded French pair of Sadio Doumbia and Calvin Hemery.