Sumit Nagal wins in Italian Challenger; Ankita Raina overwhelms Betina Tokac

Qualifier Sumit Nagal recovered from a sedate start to outclass Peter Heller of Germany 1-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the first round of the €46,600 Challenger tennis tournament in Italy on Tuesday.

In the $60,000 ITF women’s event in Istanbul, sixth seed Ankita Raina outplayed Betina Tokac of Turkey for the loss of one game.

In the ATP event in Morocco, Leander Paes in partnership with Benoit Paire of France beat Divij Sharan and Marcelo Demoliner 7-6(4), 6-3 in the doubles pre-quarterfinals.

Rohan Bopanna has been seeded second with Dominic Inglot of Britian and scheduled to play Roman Jebavy and Andres Molteni in the first round.

In the $162,480 Challenger in Chinese Taipei, qualifier Sriram Balaji went down fighting in three sets to Luke Saville of Australia in the first round.

In the $25,000 ITF women’s event in Osaka, former Asian junior champion, Pranjala Yadlapalli bounced back from being two breaks down at 3-6, 0-3 to record a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 victory in the first round.

In another $25,000 women’s event in Hong Kong, two-time National champion Mahak Jain was beaten 7-6(3), 6-2 by Erina Hayashi of Japan, but Riya Bhatia and Mihika Yadav qualified into the main draw.

The results:

€ 586,140 ATP, Marrakech, Morocco
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Benoit Paire (Fra) & Leander Paes bt Marcelo Demoliner (Bra) & Divij Sharan 7-6(4), 6-3.

$162,480 Challenger, Chinese Taipei
Singles (first round): Luke Saville (Aus) bt Sriram Balaji 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4.

€46,600 Challenger, Barletta, Italy
Singles (first round): Sumit Nagal bt Peter Heller (GER) 1-6, 6-1, 6-0.

$60,000 ITF women, Istanbul, Turkey
Singles (first round): Ankita Raina bt Betina Tokac (TUR) 6-1, 6-0.

$25,000 ITF women, Hong Kong
Singles (first round): Natalia Siedliska (GER) bt Rutuja Bhosale 6-2, 6-3; Ling Zhang (HKG) bt Zeel Desai 6-4, 6-1.

Qualifying singles (second and final round): Erina Hayashi (JPN) bt Mahak Jain 7-6(3), 6-2; Riya Bhatia bt Yanni Liu (CHN) 6-4, 6-3; Mihika Yadav bt Chengyiyi Yuan (CHN) 6-0, 6-3.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Yanni Liu & Fang Ying Xun (CHN) bt Mai Hontama (JPN) & Riya Bhatia 6-0, 6-3.

$25,000 ITF women, Osaka, Japan
Singles (first round): Pranjala Yadlapalli bt Ari Matsumoto (JPN) 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.

$15,000 ITF women, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Iveta Dapkute (LAT) & Daria Nazarkina (RUS) bt Katsiaryna Skachkova (BLR) & Sai Samhitha 6-2, 6-2.

$25,000 ITF men, Abuja, Nigeria
Singles (first round): Li-Wei Tan (TPE) bt Kunal Anand 6-2, 6-2; Guy Orly Iradukunda (BDI) bt Suraj Prabodh 7-5, 6-4.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Maximilian Neuchrist (AUT) & Arjun Kadhe bt Tochukwu Emmanuel Ezeh & Maxwell Kesiye (NGR) 6-0, 6-0.

$15,000 ITF men, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Qualifying singles (second and final round): Gian Marco Ortenzi (ITA) bt Vasisht Cheruku 6-3, 3-6, [10-6].

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Erik Crepaldi (Ita) & Jakub Paul (SUI) bt Stuart Parker (GBR) & Anurag Nenwani 6-4, 6-2.

(Courtesy: The Hindu)