Karan Singh upsets Evgeny Donskoy, sets up final clash with Ramkumar Ramanathan in Delhi ITF Tennis Tournament

on Saturday, March 16, Karan Singh pulled off a massive upset after beating top seed Evgeny Donskoy in the semifinals of the men’s singles in the Delhi ITF Men’s Tennis tournament (M25K).

Singh beat the Russian, who is currently ranked 267 in the world, 6-3, 6-4. The former took an hour and 19 minutes to storm past Donskoy and will be up against third seed Ramkumar Ramanathan in the final on Sunday, March 17.

Ramanathan, who was a part of India’s victorious team in their Davis Cup tie against Pakistan in Islamabad, got the better of Vietnam’s Nam Hoang Ly (6-2, 64) in the other semifinal clash of the Delhi ITF Men’s Tennis tournament.

In men’s doubles, the pair of Siddhant Banthia and Vishnu Vardhan defeated top seed Parikshit Somani and Manish Sasikumar 6-4, 6-1.

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Karan Singh’s impressive run in Delhi

Karan Singh has had a decent run until now in the championship. In the first round, he got the better of Mukund Saikumar, who came into the main draw as a wildcard entrant. Singh had to fight hard to win the first set, but once he found his rhythm, there was no stopping him. He went on to win the match 7-6 (4), 6-1.

Thereafter, he eased past Indian qualifier Chirag Duhan 6-2, 6-3. It took Singh an hour and 13 minutes to beat Duhan.

Singh, who defeated Thailand’s Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul in the quarterfinals, won the match 6-1, 6-4 in 56 minutes.

Before the tournament in Delhi, Singh was struggling to qualify beyond the qualifying and first rounds of several events. However, the win against Donskoy should keep him in good stead ahead of the final.

Ramanathan will start against Singh as the firm favorite, but one should not rule the latter out given the form he is in.