Three Indians in Doubles semifinals , Sultanov , Holt in singles quarterfinals at  PMRDA Powered MahaOpen ATP Challenger 100 Men’s  Championships


Pune, February 20, 2025 :  In a match between youth and experience Uzbekistan's Khumoyun Sultanov  came from behind to stop the run of  Australian and former world No 17  Bernard Tomic 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and enter the singles  quarterfinals   of  the  PMRDA Powered Maha Open ATP Challenger 100 Men’s  Tennis Championship  organized by Maharashtra State Lawn tennis Association (MSLTA) in association with the Department of Sports and Youth Services Govt of Maharashtra, PCMC, PMC and PMDTA at the Mhalunge Balewadi Tennis Stadium.
 
Indian doubles pair of  Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth entered the semifinals in the doubles event and will clash with the pair of Indian Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha  and Zimbabwian Courtney John Lock  for a place in the finals 
 
Top seeded Billy Harris  of Great Britian  looked in great form and  hammered 14 Aces on his way to a 7-5, 6-3; win over Qualifier Hiroki Moriya in 1 hour 38 minutes .  Fifth seeded Ugo Blanchet  stopped the winning run of  Kyrian Jacquet  winning 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 in a all French Battle , Kyrian who had a dream run winning two Challengers on a trot at Chennai and Delhi  could not sustain his run and looked tired going down in a 1 hour 48 minutes match.
 
 Sixth seeded  Brandon Holt of USA the son of legendary Womens tennis player  and former world No 1 Tracy Austin spent  1 hour and 18 minutes on court to carve out a 6-4,6-4 win against Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg of France.
 
In the best match of the day 26 year old Uzbek Khumoyun Sultanov  played solid tennis from the baseline to get past 32 year old  and former world no 17 Bernard Tomic  of Australia   4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in a match lasting 1 hour and 42 minutes , Khumoyun who has won 9 ITF Futures reached his second  quarterfinals at the Challenger event , "It feels very nice to play here and I like the conditions , I played solidly knowing that Tomic is tricky player and very experienced I didnt want to give him a chance " said Khumoyun after  his win 
 
Doubles finalist  of the last week in Delhi Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha  and Courtney John Lock of Zimbabwe upset the fourth seeded Australian pair of  Blake Ellis  and  Tristan Schoolkate 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 10-8 in a exciting quarterfinals match. In the semifinals the winning pair of Poonacha and Lock will take the all Indian Pair of  Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan  and Vijay Sundar Prashanth who survived a match point to edge out  Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan  6-3,3-6, 12-10 in a thriller and ensuring Indian interest  in the finals ,
 
Results: Main Draw: Second Round:
[1] Billy Harris (GBR) bt  [Q] Hiroki Moriya (JPN) 7-5, 6-3; 
Khumoyun Sultanov (UZB) bt Bernard Tomic (AUS)4-6, 6-3, 6-3; 
[5] Ugo Blanchet (FRA) bt [Alt] Kyrian Jacquet (FRA) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1;  
 [6] Brandon Holt (USA) bt  Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg (FRA)6-4, 6-4; 
 
Doubles: Quarterfinal Round:
[1] Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) /Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND) bt Saketh Myneni / Ramkumar Ramanathan (Ind) 6-3, 2-6, 12-10; 
[2] Blake Bayldon (AUS) / Matthew Christopher Romios (AUS) bt  Enrico Dalla Valle (ITA) / Khumoyun Sultanov (UZB) 6-3, 4-6, 12-10; 
Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND) / Courtney John Lock (ZIM) bt [4] Blake Ellis / Tristan Schoolkate (AUS) 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 10-8; 
Jay Clarke(GBR) /Jurij Rodionov(AUT) bt  PetrBar Biryukov /Ilia Simakin (Rus) 7-6(5), 6-3.