Ivo Karlovic stops Prajnesh Gunneswaran in third round

Ivo Karlovic fired 16 aces in stopping the fine run of qualifier Prajnesh Gunneswaran with a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory in the third round of the $8,359,455 ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells, US.

The 40-year-old Karlovic, a former world No.14, converted one of two breakpoints in the match, while Prajnesh could not capitalise on the two breakpoints that he forced.

The 29-year-old Prajnesh, ranked 97 in the world, collected 61 ATP points, including 16 for qualification, and $48,775.

In doubles, Rohan Bopanna in partnership with Denis Shapovalov of Canada was beaten 6-4, 1-6, 10-8 by Novak Djjokovic and Fabio Fognini in the pre-quarterfinals.

The Indo-Canadian pair, which had earlier ousted the second seeds Jamie Murray of Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil in straight sets, collected 90 ATP points and $30,060.

In the Challenger in China, Sasi Kumar Mukund outplayed wild card entrant He Yecong of China 6-3, 6-2 to set up a second round against the former world No.8 Marcos Baghdatis, the second seed ranked 129 in the world at present.

The results:
$8,359,455 ATP-1000, Indian Wells, US
Singles (third round): Ivo Karlovic (CRO) bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-3, 7-6(3).

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Novak Djokovic (SRB) & Fabio Fognini (ITA) bt Denis Shapovalov (CAN) & Rohan Bopanna 6-4, 1-6, [10-8].

$81,240 Challenger, Shenzhen, China
Singles (first round): Jose Hernandez-Fernandez (DOM) bt Saketh Myneni 6-2, 7-6(5); Sasi Kumar Mukund bt He Yecong (CHN) 6-3, 6-2.

$15,000 ITF men, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Qualifying singles (first round): Alexxander Donski (BUL) bt Adil Kalyanpur 7-5, 6-3.

$15,000 ITF men, Doha, Qatar
Qualifying singles (first round): Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam bt Yanik Kaelin (SUI) 6-3, 6-0.

$25,000 ITF women, Nishi Tama, Japan
Qualifying singles (first round): Stephanie Wagner (GER) bt Rutuja Bhosale 7-5, 1-6, [10-8].