Purav Raja and Divij Sharan lose early

With the top guns not competing this week, it was left to Purav Raja and Divij Sharan to sustain the Indian presence in the big league, but the duo had to endure a first round exit in the $823,550 Kremlin Cup in Moscow on Wednesday.

Divij and Purav who had made the final of the $125,000 Challenger in Tashkent last week, lost 4-6, 6-3, 5-10 to Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia and Dudi Sela of Israel in the pre-quarterfinals and had to return empty handed in terms of ATP points. The duo split $3,910.

Even as the national championship gathers momentum in New Delhi, the Indian players are spread around the world in the US, UK, Australia, Spain, Germany, Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Egypt. Of course, there were more than two dozen juniors competing in Sri Lanka, projecting a healthy sign for the future.

Prarthana makes progress in the $25,000 ITF women’s tournament in Lagos, Nigeria

Prarthana Thombare was the only Indian girl among four to make it to the pre-quarterfinals of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Lagos, Nigeria.

Prarthana beat qualifier Loveth Nnadozie of Nigeria 6-1, 6-1, while three others including Kyra Shroff lost first round. Nidhi Chilumula and Rishika Sunkara went down in three sets to Russian and German opponents respectively.

The results:

Singles (first round): Margarita Lazareva (Rus) bt Nidhi Chilumula 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-3; Prarthana Thombare bt Loveth Nnadozie (Ngr) 6-1, 6-1; Jasmin Steinherr (Ger) bt Kyra Shroff 6-3, 6-2; Michaela Frlicka (Ger) bt Rishika Sunkara 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-5.

Qualifying event (second and final round): Kyra Shroff bt Aminat Quadri (Ngr) 6-1, 6-0; Loveth Nnadozie bt Nikita Deshmukh 6-2, 7-5; Ines Murta (Por) bt Smriti Joon 6-1, 6-1; First round: Nikita Deshmukh bt Carole Joelle Ateba (Cmr) 7-5, 6-0; Smriti Joon bt Osariemen Airhunmwunde (Ngr) 6-4, 6-0.

Natasha Palha moves ahead

Fourth-seeded Natasha Palha defeated Harmony Tan of France 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the $10,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

The results:

Singles (first round): Angelina Gordienko (Rus) bt Shivani Manchanda 6-0, 6-0; Natasha Palha bt Harmony Tan (Fra) 7-5, 6-3.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Katy Dunne (GBR) and Ashmitha Easwaramurthi bt Ida Alfredsson (Swe) and Teesa Breve (Ned) 6-3, 6-0.

 Vishnu Vardhan, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, Mithun Murali progress

Vishnu Vardhan scored a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Abdullah Hamidu of Nigeria in the first round of the $15,000+H ITF men’s Futures tournament in Lagos, Nigeria.

The results:

Singles (first round): Vishnu vardhan bt Abdullah Hamidu (Ngr) 6-2, 6-2; Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan bt Henry Atseye (Ngr) 6-1, 6-0; Mithun Murali bt Daouda Ndiaye (Sen) 6-3, 7-6(3).

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and V. M. Ranjeet bt Candy Idoko and Nonso Madueke (Ngr) 6-1, 6-2.

Qualifying event (second and final round): Mithun Murali bt Pekun Akingbade (Ngr) 6-2, 6-4; First round: Mithun Murali bt Kehinde Alade (Ngr) 6-2, 6-2.

Yuki Bhambri in quarterfinals in Sydney

The top-seeded Yuki Bhambri defeated Gavin Van Peperzeel of Australia 6-4, 6-3 in the pre-quarterfinals of the $15,000 ITF men’s Futures tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday.

The 284^th Yuki had earlier beaten qualifier Scott Browne of Australia 6-1, 6-0 in the first round.

In the quarterfinals, Yuki was scheduled to face his doubles partner, the sixth-seeded Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan. The Indo-Japanese pair, seeded third, made the doubles final and was set to face the top-seeded Dane Propoggia of Australia and Jose Statham of New Zealand.

The results:

Doubles (semifinals): Yuki Bhambri and Yasutaka Uchiyama (Jpn) bt Maverick Banes and GavinVan Peperzeel (Aus) 7-6(3), 6-2; Quarterfinals: Bt. Jacob Scott (Aus) and Yusuke Watanuki (Jpn) 6-1, 6-1; Pre-quarterfinals: Bt. Blade Fong and Marious Zelba (Aus) 6-2, 6-2.

Sriram Balaji struggles

The third-seeded Sriram Balaji defeated Marin Netuschil of Germany 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-2 in the first round of the $10,000 ITF men’s Futures tennsi tournament in Essen, Germany.

Balaji was seeded third in doubles as well with Miki Jankovic of Serbia.

Sanam Singh and Vijayant Malik continue in the US circuit

Sanam Singh and Vijayant Malik were seeded third and fifth respectively in the $15,000 ITF men’s Futures tennis tournament in Mansfield, Texas. The duo, however, did not get a seeding in doubles.

Karunuday Singh ousted in Kazakhstan

The second-seeded Karunuday Singh was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by Temur Ismailov of Uzbekistan in the first round of the $10,000 ITF men’s Futures tennis tournament in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.

Vijay Sundar Prashanth loses first round in Britain

Vijay Sundar Prashanth was beaten 6-3, 6-1 by the fifth-seeded Joris De Loore of Belgium in the first round of the $10,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament in Loughborough, Britain.

R. Ramkumar loses first round in Spain

National champion R. Ramkumar was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by the top-seeded Jordi Samper-Montana of Spain in the first round of the $10,000 ITF men’s Futures tennis tournament in El Prat De Llobregat, Spain.

However, in doubles, the second-seeded Ramkumar and David Perez Sanz of Spain beat Nikita Kardivar of the US and Alexander Zhurbin of Russia 6-2, 6-4 in the pre-quarterfinals.

Paramveer Singh Bajwa in semifinals in ITF juniors tournament in Colombo

Paramveer Singh Bajwa beat the eighth-seeded Phillip Johan De Bruyn of South Africa 6-1, 6-2 in the boys quarterfinals of the ITF grade-5 junior tennis tournament in Colombo.

Arjun Ramakrishnan lost to Nishangan Nadaraja of Sri Lanka in the quarterfinals, after having beaten the top-seeded Ho Jun Lee of Chinese Taipei 6-1, 6-3 in the second round.

Among the girls, Isha Budwal managed to reach the quarterfinals before she bowed out tamely to the fourth-seeded Holy Hutchinson of Britain.

The results:

Boys (quarterfinals): Nishangan Nadaraja (Sri) bt Arjun Ramakrishnan 6-4, 6-2; Paramveer Singh Bajwa bt Phillip Johan De Bruyn (RSA) 6-1, 6-2.

Pre-quarterfinals: Arjun Ramakrishnan bt Ho Jun Lee (Tpe) 6-1, 6-3; Paramveer Singh Bajwa bt Bo Yui Huang (Tpe) 7-6(5), 6-2; robin Hao Nguy (Hkg) bt Indra Patwardhan 6-3, 6-3.

First round: Ho Jun Lee bt Nihit Rawal 6-0, 6-3; Arjun Ramakrishnan bt Igor Barzasekov (tkm) 6-4, 6-3; Paramveer Singh Bajwa bt Chehan Deepal Fernando (Sri) 6-4, 6-1; Phillip Johan De Bruyn (RSA) bt Richie Agarwal 6-1, 6-4; Indra Patwardhan bt Avishka perera (Sri) 6-0, 6-3; Ching-Yang Meng (Tpe) bt Mohit Jain 6-3, 6-2.

Qualifying event (third round): Nihit Rawal bt Zu Zinyang Tan (Mas) 6-2, 6-3; Second round: Nihit Rawal bt Supun Pathirage (Sri) 6-3, 6-3; John Bryan Decasa (Phi) bt Ramakrishnan Rengaraj 4-6, 6-2, 6-4; First round: John Bryan Decasa bt Sharanraj Yuvaraj 7-5, 6-3.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Dhanushka Pabeywardena and Avishka Perera (Sri) bt Igor Barzasekov (Tkm) and Mohit Jain 6-1, 6-3.

Pre-quarterfinals: Igor Barzasekov and Mohit Jain bt Phillip Johan De Bruyn (RSA) and Charlie Ridout (GBR) 6-1, 6-1; Ho Jun Lee (Tpe) and zu Zinyang Tan (Mas) bt Paramveer Singh Bajwa and Nihit Rawal 6-4, 7-5; Joshua Liu (Sin) and Hong Kit Jack Wong (Hkg) bt Richie Agarwal and Indra Patwardhan 6-4, 6-2; Itchya Mesommon and Thuwanon Pattananawapong (Tha) bt Anish Wijesinghe (Sri) and Christian Cummings 6-4, 6-3.

Girls (quarterfinals): Holy Hutchinson (GBR) bt Isha Budwal 6-1, 6-0.

Pre-quarterfinals: Holy Hutchinson bt Nikita Anand 1-6, 6-1, 6-0; Isha Budwal bt Chi Chen (Tpe) 6-2, 6-3; Nethmi Himashi Waduge (Sri) bt Shrishti Daas 7-5, 6-3; Pei Hsuan Chen (Tpe) bt Lalita Devarakonda 6-4, 6-1.

First round: Ria Vaidya (Sin) bt Apekshita Alkesh 6-0, 6-0; Roxanne May Resma (Phi) bt Nidhi Surapaneni 6-3, 7-6(7); Fang-Hsien Wu (Tpe) bt Shamika Dhar 6-0, 6-1; Holy Hutchinson bt Kaaviya Balasubramanian 6-2, 6-3; Nikita Anand bt Hasindhi Lokuge (Sri) 6-2, 6-4; Isha Budwal bt Watsachol Sawasdee (tha) 7-5, 6-0; Shrishti Daas bt Khee Yen Wee (Sin) 6-1, 6-2; Nethmi Himashi Waduge bt Praneetha Sathishkumar 6-1, 5-7, 6-3; alitaDevarakonda bt Kavindya De Silva (Sri) 6-0, 6-3; Xeniya Prokopchuk (Ukr) bt Sharlee Deshmukh 6-1, 6-0; Holly Horsfall (GBR) bt Roma Chandiran 7-5, 6-4; May Wanvisa Thurakitseree (Tha) bt Madhumitha Meenakshi PV Rajan 6-3, 6-1.

Qualifying event (Second round): Apekshita Alkesh bt Angelia Raman 6-4, 6-2; Kaaviya Balasubramanian bt Shmika Dhar 6-0, 66-1; Franziska_Marie Ahrend (Ger) bt Anusha Dhar 6-1, 6-2; Madhumitha Meenakshi PV Rajan bt Melissa Jayawardane (Sri) 6-0, 6-1; First round: Angella Raman bt Rukshana Abdeen (Sri) 6-2, 6-1; Kaaviya Balasubramanian bt Alvina Lai (Hkg) 6-4, 6-1; Franziska_Marie Ahrend bt Niditra Rajmohan 6-1, 6-0; Melissa Jayawardane bt Thasoorika Thavagnanasooriyam 6-1,, 6-1; Madhumitha Meenakshi PV Rajan bt Jasmine Khoshabeh (Iri) 6-1, 6-0.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Isha Budwal and Praneetha Sathishkumar bt Kaaviya Balasubramanian and Niditra Rajmohan 3-6, 6-1, 10-2; Pei Hsuan Chen and Fang-Hsien Wu (Tpe) bt Nikita Anand and Roma Chandiran 6-4, 6-4.

Pre-quarterfinals: Isha Budwal and Praneetha Sathishkumar w.o. Ria Vaidya (Sin) and May Wanvisa Thurakitseree (Tha); Kaaviya Balasubramannian and Niditra Rajmohan bt Kavindya De Silva and Nethmi Himashi Waduge (Sri) 6-0, 6-3; Chi Chen (Tpe) and Wataschol Sawasdee (Tha) bt Shrishti Daas and Sharlee Deshmukh 6-4, 6-3; Xeniya Prokopchuk (Ukr) and Angella Raman bt Chak Lam Chan (Hkg) and Sadaf Sadeghvaziri (Iri) 6-3, 6-3; Nikita Anand and Roma Chandiran bt Hasindhi Lokuge (Sri) and Shamika Dhar 6-0, 6-2; Khee Yen Wee (Sin) and Madhumitha Meenakshi PV Rajan bt Medhira Samarasinghe and Rushika Wijesooriya (Sri) 6-0, 7-5; Khim Iglupas and Roxanne May Resma (Phi) bt Lalita Devarakonda and Nidhi Surapaneni 6-1, 6-0.