Nitin upsets Le Mihn

NEW DELHI, JUNE 8: Top seeded players Prahlad Srinath, Artem Derepasko and Syed Fazaluddin scored fluent wins while Nitin Kirtane shocked...

NEW DELHI, JUNE 8: Top seeded players Prahlad Srinath, Artem Derepasko and Syed Fazaluddin scored fluent wins while Nitin Kirtane shocked seventh seed Le Minh of the US to make it to the quarter-finals of MTNL ITF Men8217;s Satellite Masters Tennis tournament here today.

Kirtane spoiled the American8217;s party with a comfortable 6-3 6-4 win against Minh in the second round which witnessed three seeded players being dumped out of the event.

Other seeded player to go out, but in unfortunate circumstances, was seventh seed Shivshanker Kambargimath.

Playing against Vijayendra Laad, Kambargimath won the first set 7-6 7/3 but scorching heat took its toll as he developed muscle cramps finding hard to cover the court. Laad led the second 5-2 when Kambargimath called for medical help before conceding the match.

Promising youngster Laad, who put out Mustafa Ghouse on Monday in the first round, committed some unforced errors in the first set tie-breaker before losing it 3-7. But in the second, Laad made a spiritedcomeback only to see Kambargimath gifting away the match.

Laad has a potentially tough quarter-final tie against Russia8217;s Derepasko, the second seed. Derepasko wasted no time in dispatching Vijay Kannan 6-4 6-4. The Russian, who won the Mumbai leg, is closing in on Srinath on circuit points.

In other second round action, Syed Fazaluddin defeated Ashley Ford of Australia 6-4 7-5 and meets Anton Kokurin, sixth seed from Uzbekistan, in the quarters.

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Fazaluddin needed just one break in the first set before winning it 6-4 and after trading a break each in the second, the Indian frustrated the Aussie8217;s gameplan in the 11th game by chipping and slicing backhand winners. He held his serve in the 12th with a crosscourt volley and ford trying to reach it went sprawling on the court.

Kokurin prevailed over Russian Dimitri Mazur 6-4 7-6 7/5 while fourth seeded Harsh Mankad fought hard to dispose off Vishal Uppal 6-4 7-6 7/0.

An agile Mankad, who showed promise during the three circuit events, made aconfident start to his second round match winning the first set 6-4. Uppal made a strong comeback in the second and after it went into tie-break, his resistance fizzled out. Mankad walked away with 7-0 verdict in the tie-break.

RESULTS: prefix denotes seeding:oP>

II round: 1-Prahlad Srinath bt Sandeep Kirtane 6-3 6-0; 2-Artem Derepasko Russia bt Vijay Kannan 6-4 6-4; 3-Syed Fazaluddin bt Ashley Ford Australia 6-4 7-5; 4-Harsh Mankad bt Vishal Uppal 6-4 7-6 7/0; Vasudeva Reddy bt 5-Vinod Sridhar 2-6 6-3 6-3; 6-Anton Kokurin Uzbekistan bt Dimitri Mazur Russia 6-4 7-6 7/5; Nitin Kirtane bt Le Minh US 6-3 6-4; Vijayendra Laad bt Shivshanker Kambargimath 6-7 3/7 5-2 conceded.