ITF Futures tennis: Sriram Balaji rallies to prevail

Sriram Balaji overcame a first set loss to take out Dutchman Vincent van den Honert. Photo: R. Ragu

Six Indians booked their places in the singles quarterfinals of the MCC–S.R. Subramaniam Memorial ITF Futures tennis championship here on Wednesday. Among them, only Sriram Balaji had to dig deep, coming through in three sets against the Dutchman Vincent van den Honert.

Balaji was on the back foot right at the outset, getting broken in the very first game. The second game, after witnessing five deuces, also went van den Honert’s way and he easily pocketed the set 6-2.

But the second and third sets were in complete contrast, Balaji running out the victor for the loss of just three games in all. Balaji will now meet R. Ramkumar who overcame Sergey Shiplov.

Sanam sails

The other all-Indian quarterfinal will be between Sanam Singh and Vijayant Malik. The former was impressive in his win over Ronak Manuja, losing five games in total. Manuja did serve well in the first set, but when Sanam found a way to return them, the points were his for the taking. Two breaks in the first and one in the second were all it took for Sanam to clinch the match 6-2, 6-3.

The results: Second round: Singles: Sanam Singh bt Ronak Manuja 6-2, 6-3; Sriram Balaji bt Vincent van den Honert (Ned) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1; Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan bt Vignesh Peranamallur 6-1, 6-2; R. Ramkumar bt Sergey Shiplov (Uzb) 7-5, 6-1; V.M. Ranjeet bt Sarvar Ikramov (Uzb) 6-4, 6-0; Vijayant Malik bt Ashwin Vijayaragavan 7-6(5), 6-2; Enrique Lopez-Perez (Esp) bt Ronit Singh Bisht 6-1, 6-1; Andre Gaspar Murta (Por) bt Sai Saran Reddy 6-2, 6-3.

Doubles: R. Arun Prakash & Ramkumar bt Jatin Dahiya & Vijayant Malik 6-3, 6-4; Sriram Balaji & Ranjeet bt Ikramov & Shiplov (Uzb) 6-3, 6-1; Jeevan & Vishnu Vardhan bt Ronit & Abhijeet Tiwari 6-1, 6-2; Jannis Liniger (Sui) & Vijay Sundar Prashanth bt Ronak Manuja & Ashwin 3-6, 6-3, 10-7.