Saketh Myneni, Sasi Kumar Mukund in pre-quarters of Jerusalem Challenger

Saketh Myneni and Sasi Kumar Mukund won their matches in straight sets to reach the pre-quarterfinals of the $54,160 Challenger tennis tournament in Jerusalem, Israel, on Wednesday.

Saketh beat Andrea Vavassori of Italy 7-6(4), 6-3 in the second round after a bye in the first. Sasi Kumar was more authoritative in his 6-1, 6-4 victory over Gonzalo Escobar of Ecuador, after a bye in the first round.

In the ATP event in Geneva, Divij Sharan in partnership with Philipp Oswald of Austria reached the doubles semifinals with a 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 win over Taro Daniel and Marton Fucsovics. In the semifinals, Divij and partner will play Matthew Ebden and Robert Lindstedt.

In the ATP event in France, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Purav Raja were beaten 6-4, 6-1 in the doubles quarterfinals by fourth seeds Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara of Britain.

In the ITF women’s event in Thailand, two-time National champion Mahak Jain was beaten in straight sets by Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand, but Zeel Desai pulled through for 6-2, 67(2), 6-0 victory over another Thai Patcharin Cheapchandej.

In another ITF women’s tournament in Turkey, Jennifer Luikham battled for three hours and 36 minutes to beat Victoria Mikhaylova of Russia 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(7) in the first round. Jennifer was in a precarious position at 3-6, 2-4, 15-40 but turned the match on its head.

In the decider, the Russian was serving for the match at 5-4 but Jennifer fought back to take the set into the tie-break. The eighth seeded Indian did miss two match points at 6-4 in the tie-break, and saved a match point at 6-7, and pulled through courageously.

The results:

€ 586,140 ATP, Geneva, Switzerland
Doubles (quarterfinals): Philipp Oswald (AUT) & Divij Sharan bt bt Taro Daniel (JPN) & Marton Fucsovics (HUN) 6-4, 3-6, [10-8].

€ 586,140 ATP, Lyon, France
Doubles (quarterfinals): Luke Bambridge & Jonny O’Mara (GBR) bt Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan & Purav Raja 6-4, 6-1.

$54,160 Challenger, Jerusalem, Israel
Singles (second round): Saketh Myneni bt Andrea Vavassori (ITA) 7-6(4), 6-3; Sasi Kumar Mukund bt Gonzalo Escobar (ECU) 6-1, 6-4.

$25,000 ITF men, Nonthaburi, Thailand
Singles (first round): Finn Tearney (NZL) bt Rishab Agarwal 7-5, 6-3.

$25,000 ITF men, Kampala, Uganda
Sinlges (first round): Julius Tverijonas (LTU) bt Dalwinder Singh 7-6(10), 2-6, 6-4; Joao Marcos Nusdeo (BRA) bt Kunal Anand 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; Rishi Reddy bt VM Ranjeeet 4-6, 6-2, 2-1 (retired); Gokul Suresh bt Edward Birungi (UGA) 6-0, 4-0 (retired); Anirudh Chandrasekar bt Ryan James Storrie (GBR) 7-6(3), 1-0 (retired); Simon Carr (IRL) bt Tejas Chaukulkar 6-1, 6-2; SD Prajwal Dev bt Diego Fernandez Flores (CHI) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1; Suraj Prabodh bt Sergey Bolotov (RUS) 7-5, 7-5; Niki Poonacha bt Dhruv Sunish 6-2, 6-0.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Anirudh Chandrasekar & Niki Poonacha bt Rishi Reddy & Dhruv Sunish 6-2, 6-4; William Bushamuka (US) & Mehuli Don Ayanda Sibanda (ZIM) bt Dipanshu Garg & Suraj Prabodh 6-1, 6-3; Kent Tagashira (JPN) & Tejas Chaukulkar bt Edward Birungi & Frank Tayebwa (UGA) 6-2, 6-3; Julian Bradley (IRL) & Guy Orly Iradukunda (BDI) bt Muthu Aadhitiya Senthilkumar & VM Ranjeet 6-1, 0-1 (retired).

$25,000 ITF women, Singapore
Singles (first round): Natsja Kolar (SLO) bt Sowjanya Bavisetti 7-6(5), 6-1; Nudnida Luangnam (THA) bt Mihika Yadav 6-2, 6-2; Riya Bhatia bt Emily Appleton (GBR) 7-6(4), 6-2; Rutuja Bhosale bt Kwan Yau Ng (HKG) 6-1, 6-1; Haley Giavara (US) bt Ashmitha Easwaramurthi 6-2, 6-0.

$25,000 ITF women, Nonthaburi, Thailand
Singles (first round): Mananchaya Sawangkaew (THA) bt Mahak Jain 6-1, 7-5; Zeel Desai bt Patcharin Cheapchandej (THA) 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-0.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Ho Ching Wu (HKG) & Snehal Mane bt Tamachan Momkoonthod & Mananchaya Sawangkaew (THA) 1-6, 7-5, [10-7].

$15,000 ITF women, Antalya, Turkey
Singles (first round): Jennifer Luikham bt Victoria Mikhaylova (RUS) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(7).