CHENNAI: India's Chirag Duhan, Siddharth Vishwakarma and Manish Sureshkumar knocked out seeded players in the first round of qualifying at the Chennai Open ATP Challenger at the SDAT Tennis Stadium here on Sunday.
Duhan, aged 21 and ranked No 962 in the world, upset third seed Evgenii Tiurnev, ranked more than 600 spots higher than the Indian, in straight sets (6-4, 6-2) while 30-year-old Vishwakarma, ranked No 771 in the world, defeated the eighth seed Dominik Palan, ranked No 537 in the world, 6-3, 6-1.
Manish Sureshkumar added to the joy for the Indian tennis fraternity by knocking out the 12th seed Luca Castelnuovo 7-6, 6-4. In an all-Indian clash, 10th seed Dev Javia defeated Keerthivassan Suresh 6- 4, 6-2 to book his spot in the second and final round of qualifying.
India's Sidharth Rawat fought valiantly as he came from a set and 5-2 down against fifth seed Eric Vanshelboim to force a decider before bowing out in three sets 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
Top seed Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg and second seed Kimmer Coppejans were among those who advanced to the second and final round of qualifying. The final round of the qualifying draw will take place on Monday along with some of the main draw matches.
The likes of Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sasikumar Mukund and Karan Singh will feature in the main draw after receiving wildcard entries.
The Chennai Open is the first in a series of ATP Challenger events to be held in India. The tournaments to follow are scheduled to be held at Delhi, Pune and Bengaluru. Entry for spectators is free.