Divij Sharan wins Challenger title with Matthew Ebden

Seeded No.1 with Matthew Ebden of Australia, Divij Sharan clinched the doubles title with a 7-6(4), 5-7, 10-3 victory over the Koreans Nam Ji Sung and Song Min-Kyu in the $162,480 Challenger tennis tournament in Jinan, China, on Saturday.

It was the second title of the season for Divij, who had won the ATP Tour event in Pune with Rohan Bopanna. It was the 15th career Challenger doubles title for the 33-year-old Divij.

The title fetched 125 ATP points and $9,300. The runners-up collected 75 points and $5,400.

In the ITF men’s Futures in Thailand, fourth seed Sidharth Rawat went down fighting 3-6, 6-7(4) to the top seed Dayne Kelly of Australia.

In the $60,000 ITF women’s event in China, Rutuja Bhosale in partnership with Erika Sema of Japan was beaten by the top seeded Chinese team 11-9 in the super tie-break of the doubles final.

The results:

$162,480 Challenger, Jinan, China
Doubles (final): Matthew Ebden (AUS) & Divij Sharan bt Nam Ji Sung & Song Min-Kyu (KOR) 7-6(4), 5-7, [10-3].

$15,000 ITF men, Hua Hin, Thailand
Singles (semifinals): Dayne Kelly (AUS) bt Sidharth Rawat 6-3, 7-6(4).

$60,000 ITF women, Changsha, China
Doubles (final): Xinyu Jiang & Qianhui Tang (CHN) bt Erika Sema (JPN) & Rutuja Bhosale 6-3, 3-6, [11-9].

(Courtesy: The Hindu)