Alex Solanki warded off a stiff challenge from qualifier Matthew Summers of Britain 7-5, 0-6, 6-2 in the pre-quarterfinals of the ITF grade-2 junior tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Wednesday.
He was the lone Indian boy to make the quarterfinals and will face second seed Seppe Cuypers of Belgium in the quarterfinals.
It was firebrand tennis on show court No. 1 as Nitin Kumar Sinha won the first set in a long-drawn tie-break when his opponent was slapped a point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct that set him up a fifth set-point. However, the Briton was a class act in the next two sets as he negotiated the gutsy Nitin Kumar with a touch of assurance.
In the girls’ section, Mahak Jain, Nidhi Surapaneni and Zeel Desai made the quarterfinals. The results: Boys (pre-quarterfinals): Alexis Canter (GBr) bt Nitin Kumar Sinha 6-7(12), 6-3, 6-2; Louis Dussin (Fra) bt Parikshit Somani 6-0, 6-1; Lingxi Zhao (Chn) bt Udayan Bhakar 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-5; Vorachan Rakpuangchon (Tha) bt Shramay Dhawan 2-6, 6-3, 6-4; Maxence Broville (Fra) bt Yeongseok Jeong (Kor) 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-1; Finn Bass (GBr) bt Ray Ho (Tpe) 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2; Alex Solanki bt Matthew Summers (GBr) 7-5, 0-6, 6-2; Seppe Cuypers (Bel) bt Aleksa Lazarevic (Srb) 6-2, 6-2.
Doubles (quarterfinals): Nitin Kumar Sinha & Aleksa Lazarevic (Srb) bt Maxence Broville & Louis Dussin (Fra) 6-1, 3-6, [10-1]; Tsung-Hao Huang & Yun Ruei Wen (Tpe) bt Timothy Dollman & Richard Thongoana (RSA) 7-5, 6-2; Seon Yong Han & Yeongseok Jeong (Kor) bt Parikshit Somani & Dhruv Sunish 7-6(3), 6-1; Udayan Bhakar & Rian Pandole bt Finn Bass & Jack Molloy (GBr) 7-5, 3-6 [10-5].
Girls (pre-quarterfinals): Mahak Jain bt Jennifer Luikham 6-3, 6-2; Pei Hsuan Chen (Tpe) bt Sohyun Park (Kor) 6-2, 7-6(3); Thasaporn Naklo (Tha) bt Jodie Anna Burrage (GBr) 6-3, 6-3; Nidhi Surapaneni bt Shivani Amineni 6-4, 6-2; Sing-Le Fan Chiang (Tpe) bt Komola Umarova (Uzb) 7-6(1), 6-0; Zeel Desai bt Abinikka Renganathan 7-5, 6-0; Eden Richardson (GBr) bt Yarden Akler (Isr) 7-5, 6-4; En Shuo Liang (Tpe) bt YeXin Ma (Chn) 6-3, 6-1. Doubles (quarterfinals): Komola Umarova (Uzb) & Zeel Desai bt Alexandra Pisareva (Ukr) & Abinikka Renganathan 6-3, 6-4; Pei Hsuan Chen & Fang-Hsien Wu (Tpe) bt Sabhyata Nihalani & Sathwika Sama 6-2, 7-5; Eden Richardson & Camille Verden Anderson (GBr) bt Akanksshan Bhan & Mahak Jain 6-3, 6-1; Sing-Le Fan Chiang & En Shuo Liang (Tpe) bt Thasaporn Naklo (Tha) & Sohyun Park (Kor) 7-6(0), 7-6(5).
