Karunuday Singh knocked out the third-seeded Saketh Myneni 7-5, 6-4 in the pre-quarterfinals of the $10,000 ITF men’s Futures tennis tournament in Bangkok on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old Karunuday, who has turned professional after completing his collegiate education in the US recently, will play the sixth-seeded Takuto Niki of Japan in the quarterfinals.
It was a shock defeat for the 300th-ranked Saketh, after he had won back to back titles in the $15,000 tournaments at home in Chandigarh and Rohtak.
It was a revenge victory for the 900th-ranked Karunuday as he had lost to Saketh in the semifinals of a similar tournament in Chennai last year, when he managed to win a mere four games.
Karunuday will have a score to settle against Niki also, as he had lost to him in the ITF circuit in Thailand in 2010, in an extended tie-break in the third set.
There was some consolation for Saketh as he, in partnership with Patrick Davidson of the US, won the doubles quarterfinals 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 against Jaymon Crabb of Australia and Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia.
