Second-seeded N. Sriram Balaji and sixth-seed N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth were forced to dig deep before advancing to the quarterfinals of the Indian Oil-ITF Futures tennis tournament at the TTC courts here on Wednesday.
Pitted against Mohit Mayur, Balaji was stretched to the limit before he came through 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 while Vijay displayed tremendous character as he rallied to beat Tejas Chaukulkar 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 in another long-drawn battle.
Top seed Prajnesh Gunneswaran, however, stayed on course with yet another easy 6-3, 6-4 win over Jui-Chen Hung.
Local hero Haadin Bava pulled off the upset of the day, beating seventh-seeded Rishab Agarwal 7-5, 6-2.
Balaji seemed to be well in control as he took the first set with two breaks of serve.
But, an inspired Mohit had the second-seed in all sorts of trouble after that.
Engaging his opponent in rallies and then using his forehand to telling effect, Mohit had Balaji on the run in the second.
However, Balaji was quick to regain focus, and hit his stride to wrap up the third set — again with two breaks — and the match.
Vijay, in contrast, found himself in deep trouble as Chaukulkar got up a set led 4-0 lead in the second.
But the sixth-seed clawed his way back, and once the match was levelled, it was Vijay all the way.
Bava ousts Rishab
Bava, the former Kerala State champion and bronze medallist at the 35th National Games, kept pace with Agarwal before getting the vital breakthrough in the tenth game of the first set.
Thereafter, the home favourite was unstoppable all the way as he took firm grip of the match with an early break.
The results (second round): Prajnesh Gunneswaran bt Jui-Chen Hung (Tpe) 6-3, 6-4; N. Vijay Sundar Prasanth bt Tejas Chaukulkar 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3; Vishnu Vardhan bt Anurag Nenwani 6-1, 6-4.
Haadin Bava bt Rishab Agarwal 7-5, 6-2; Jayesh Pungliya bt Hong Kit Wong (Hkg) 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.
N. Sriram Balaji bt Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. V.M. Ranjeet bt Jeson Patrombon (Phi) 7-6(5), 6-4; Dalwinder Singh bt P. Vignesh 7-6(5), 6-1.
Doubles: Kunal Anand & Anvit Bendre bt Chandril Sood & Lakshit Sood 6-3, 6-3; N. Sriram Balaji & Vishnu Vardhan bt Haadin Bava & Fahad Mohammed 6-3, 7-5; Jui-Chen Hung (Tpe) & Hong Kit Wong (Hkg) bt Tejas Chaukulkar & J. Pungaliya 3-2 retired; Aryan Goveas & Dhruv Suresh bt Mohit Mayur & N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth 3-6, 7-6(4), [10-4].
