Pune’s own Manas Dhamne delivered another confident performance to advance to the Men’s Singles quarterfinals at the PMRDA Powered Maha Open ATP Challenger 75 Men’s Tennis Championship at the Shiv Chhatrapati Kreeda Sankul, Mhalunge Balewadi Tennis Stadium on Wednesday.
The Indian wildcard, backed by strong home support, overcame former top-50 player Ilya Ivashka to continue his impressive run at the tournament.
Organised by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) in association with the Department of Sports and Youth Services, Government of Maharashtra, PCMC, PMC and PMDTA, and sponsored by the Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (PMRDA), the Challenger 75 event has already produced several competitive encounters in the early rounds.
Dhamne advanced to the last eight after defeating Ivashka 6-3, with the Belarusian forced to retire due to injury during the second-round contest. Prior to the retirement, the Indian looked assured from the baseline, striking cleanly and dictating rallies with composure. The victory marks a significant milestone for the young wildcard, who has now booked his place in the quarterfinals of a Challenger-level event on home soil.
He will next face Croatia’s Duje Ajdukovic in the quarterfinals scheduled for Friday. Ajdukovic secured his place in the last eight with a dominant straight-sets victory over fifth seed Frederico Ferreira Silva of Portugal. The Croatian controlled proceedings throughout the match, breaking serve early in both sets and maintaining pressure from the baseline to seal a 6-2, 6-2 win.
Britain’s Alastair Gray was also among the standout performers of the day, registering a hard-fought comeback win against third seed Ilia Simakin. After dropping the opening set 4-6, Gray raised his intensity to edge a closely contested second-set tie-break before holding his nerve in the decider to complete a 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 victory in a match that lasted nearly three hours.
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Sixth seed Federico Cina of Italy progressed comfortably into the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Japan’s Yuta Shimizu. Cina’s consistency on serve and aggressive return game allowed him to dictate the tempo of rallies and close out the contest in straight sets in just over an hour.
In the doubles draw, top seeds Siddhant Banthia of India and Alexander Donski of Bulgaria overcame a challenging opening set to defeat Luca Castelnuovo of Switzerland and Uisung Park of Korea 7-6(5), 6-2. After clinching the tie-break in the first set, the Indo-Bulgarian pair carried the momentum forward to dominate the second set and secure their place in the next round.
Indian wildcards Saketh Myneni and Digvijaypratap Singh also impressed with a composed 6-3, 6-3 victory over Japan’s Masamichi Imamura and Kokoro Isomura. The Indian duo displayed effective teamwork and sharp net play throughout the match to register a straight-sets win.
Elsewhere, Jay Clarke of Great Britain and Michael Geerts of Belgium recorded a clinical 6-3, 6-4 win over the Japanese pairing of Takuya Kumasaka and Rio Noguchi. In another closely contested encounter, Japan’s Ryuki Matsuda and Ilia Simakin edged past Aryan Lakshmanan of India and Malaysia’s Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong 7-6(3), 7-5 in a match decided by crucial points in both sets.
However, it was disappointment for Dhamne in the doubles competition, where he partnered Aditya Vishal Balsekar as a wildcard entry. The Indian pair went down 6-2, 6-1 to fourth seeds Jisung Nam of Korea and Patrik Niklas-Salminen of Finland in the opening round.
With the quarterfinal lineup now taking shape, the tournament is set for further high-quality contests in the coming days as players continue their quest for valuable ranking points and the ATP Challenger 75 title in Pune. India No. 1 Sumit Nagal is also scheduled to be in action on Thursday at 2 pm, adding further interest for home fans as the competition progresses.
