Manoj stuns fifth seed

MUMBAI, MAY 25: Wild card Manoj Mahadevan toyed with Alexandre Sikanov Rus, who was playing like a 12-year-old attending his first summ...

MUMBAI, MAY 25: Wild card Manoj Mahadevan toyed with Alexandre Sikanov Rus, who was playing like a 12-year-old attending his first summer coaching camp, in the ITF Men8217;s Satellite second-leg tennis tournament today.

Mahadevan dropped just nine points on serve in the match that lasted 45 minutes and sent the fifth seed out 6-0, 6-1 in the first round at the G A Ranade Tennis Centre.

A good day for young Indians marked Vijay Kannan8217;s triumph over Nitin Kirtane, who had beaten the former in the National Hardcourt final, in an hour and 45 minutes. The match, not the most pleasant for Kirtane who needed an ice pack on his head to counter the humidity, would have lasted longer than the 6-4, 7-5 scoreline.

Up 4-2 and one break of serve in the second set, Kannan had the match seemingly under control. More so, when it seemed that the heat would take its toll on the National champion. At 4-3, Kirtane took the break and it worked.

Kirtane broke back, pulled ahead 5-4, and had two set points. A deep serve and abackhand crosscourt saved Kannan from losing the set.

The procedure repeated, Kirtane had three game points, lost all three, and dropped serve. Kannan needed only that much space to close in the match.

Top seed Prahlad Srinath, third seed Syed Fazaluddin, seventh seed Sandeep Kirtane and Harsh Mankad were among others to advance.

Results

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Men8217;s singles first round: Ashley Ford Aus bt Anant Sitaram Ind 6-1, 6-2; Artem Derepasko Rus bt Steven Bourke Aus 6-1, 6-1; Syed Fazaluddin Ind bt Syed Nasir Ali Sherazi Pak 6-1, 6-3; Manoj Mahadevan Ind bt Alexandre Sikanov Rus 6-0, 6-1; Sandeep Kirtane Ind bt Le Minh US 6-3, 6-3; Rohan Bopanna Ind bt Sanzaruz Zaman Ind 6-3, 7-5; Anton Kokurin Uzb bt Jay Udwadia US 3-6, 7-5, 6-3; Vijay Kannan Ind bt Nitin Kirtane Ind 6-4, 7-5; Ravikiran Bhat Ind bt Dipesh Rao Ind 6-2, 6-1; Harsh Mankad Ind bt Andrei Youznyi Rus 6-2, 6-2; Prahlad Srinath Ind bt Vasudeva Reddy Ind 6-1, 6-2; Anjan Viplav Ind bt ShivashankarKambargimath Ind 6-3, 6-4.