India's Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan progress in Tata Open Maharashtra qualifiers; Prajnesh goes down fighting
Hindustan TimesFive Indians were part of the first round qualifiers at the 5th Tata Open Maharashtra on Saturday at Pune's Balewadi Stadium - three, including Prajnesh Gunneswaran, went down fighting, while two progressed to the second round, standing a win away from making a main draw appearance. Yuki Bhambri; Ramkumar Ramanathan Prajnesh, who was the only Indian to reach the pre-quarters in the 2020 edition, returned to Pune to make his fifth appearance at the Tata Open. He eventually won 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the final qualifying round where he will face Italy's Mattia Bellucci, who beat Vladyslav Orlov in the qualifiers on Saturday. Meanwhile, Sidharth Rawat, who replaced Christopher Eubanks in the qualifying draw on Saturday, lost 1-6, 7-5, 1-6 against Zdeněk Kolář, and Aditya Vishal Balsekar went down in straight sets, 3-6, 0-6, against Flavio Cobolli.