CHENNAI: Third seed Duje Ajdukovic and the trio of Indian players in the singles main draw were knocked out in the opening round of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger on Tuesday. The tournament's top seeds Billy Harris and Lloyd Harris started their campaigns on a winning note. Elias Ymer ranked 332 defeated Ajdukovic, ranked No. 158 in the world 6-2, 6-7, 6-2. It was not a good day for Indian singles players at the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Chennai either with all three local players in the main draw also exiting in the first round.
Twenty-year-old Karan Singh was defeated by France's Kyrian Jacquet 3-6, 3-6, while Ramkumar Ramanathan went down to Great Britain's Jay Clarke 3-6, 5-7. In the doubles draw, Siddhant Banthia and Parikshit Somani won the all-Indian clash over Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta and Vishnu Vardhan 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 to book their spot in the quarterfinals.
Top seed Billy Harris, of Great Britain, and second seed Lloyd Harris, of South Africa, were among the seeded players advancing into the second round. Harris defeated Ukrainian qualifier Eric Vanshelboim 7-5, 6-2 while second seed Lloyd Harris, a former US Open quarter-finalist, overcame another Ukrainian qualifier Yurii Dzhavakian 6-3, 5-7, 6-0.
Results:
Singles: First Round: Billy Harris (GBR) bt Eric Vanshelboim (UKR) 7-5, 6-2; Lloyd Harris (RSA) bt Dzhavakian (UKR) 6-3, 5-7, 6-0; Elias Ymer (SWE) bt Duje Ajdukovic (CRO) 6-2, 6-7, 6-2; Timofey Skatov (KAZ) bt Hynek Barton (CZE) 6-4, 6-4; Kyrian Jacquet (FRA) bt Karan Singh (IND) 6-3, 6-3; Jay Clarke (GBR) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) 6-3, 7-5; Aslan Karatsev bt Corentin Denolly (FRA) 7-6 (4), 6-4; Alexey Zakharov bt Mukund Sasikumar (IND) 6-3, 6-7, 6-1; Rio Noguchi (JPN) bt Kimmer Coppejans (BEL) 7-5, 3-1 (retd.); Michael Geerts (BEL) bt Maxim Zhukov 7-2, 7-6 (5); Dalibor Svrcina (CZE) bt Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg (FRA) 5-7, 7-6, 6-0.
Doubles: First Round: Siddhant Banthia (IND) / Parikshit Somani (IND) bt Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta (IND) / Vishnu Vardhan (IND) 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.