The Chennai Challenger 2018 is part of the Indian swing that started towards the fag end of 2017. In the last couple of months the international tennis circuit started with the Pune Challenger in 2017. It was then followed by the Bangalore Challenger 2017, 250 series Maharashtra Open 2018 and recently ended with the Chennai Challenger.
Let us have a look as to how our players fared at the Chennai Challenger:
1. Yuki Bhambri – India`s no.1 player Yuki Bhambri ended up being the runner up losing to the top seed Jordan Thompson from Australia. In a match where Yuki had a match point in the deciding third set, the tournament had given him an opportunity to come inside top 100 on the ATP.
Had he won the final, he would have been back inside top 100, a position he had back in 2015. However, the final appearance has placed him at 101 on the ATP and close to cracking top 100.
2. Arjun Kadhe – Considering that the Pune lad is playing his first full time professional circuit after completing his studies in the U.S, the tournament was a decent one. After qualifying for the main draw, he beat the experienced Saketh-Sai Myneni in the first round. In the second round he lost to the experienced world no.227 Mohamed Safwat in the second round. Gradually he will have to move to the next level.
3. Sriram Balaji & Vishnu Vardhan – Both of them made the best use of it as they won the doubles title.
The pair who have been playing together from last year are complementing each other well.
4. Biggest Losers – Both Sumit Nagal and Prajnesh Gunneswaran could not take advantage of the home tourney as they lost in the first round.
5. Good Exposure – For a young upstarts like Adil Kalyanpur and Nitin Kumar Sinha, it was a good exposure to play against quality Challenger level players.
Author`s Take – Yuki Bhambri made a good use of the tournament as he inches close to top 100 again. Overall, it was a disappointing tournament for the Indians as they failed to make inroads into the draw.
Recent Comments