Myneni and Ramkumar clinch doubles title

CHENNAI: The Indian duo of Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan clinched the men’s doubles title on the penultimate day of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger at the SDAT Stadium here on Saturday.

It was an all-Indian final in the men’s doubles as they faced the pair of Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli and Nikki Poonacha, who defeated the German duo Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner on Friday.

Bollipalli and Poonacha got off to a blazing start and snatched the first set in just 30 minutes with a 6-3 lead. The first four games in the opening set were on an equal footing, with both the Indian duos playing their hearts out to get the initial advantage. After Bollipalli and Poonacha led 2-1, Myneni and Ramanathan played a brilliant comeback to equalise the score at 2-2.

But Bollipalli and Poonacha spared no game from thereon in the first set as they outperformed them by winning the next four games straight, with Bollipalli stroking an unplayable ace at the end of the ninth game to get the set point.

The second set was a different story, as the experienced Myneni and Ramanathan got off to a brilliant start by winning the first three games of the set. Despite a few good games from Bollipalli and Poonacha, it was not enough to beat Myneni and Ramanathan, as they won the second set with a score of 6-3.

The tie break belonged to the pair of Myneni and Ramanathan, as they pulled off a 10-5 lead to clinch the doubles title in style, with the fans cheering for the efforts of the duo to pull off a comeback after being set down.

“I feel great winning the final here in my home city, which is always a special feeling; it brings back good memories of 2014 and the good wins I’ve had here. Looking forward to playing with Saketh in the upcoming weeks, starting from Bangalore, it won’t be easy, especially after winning here, which adds to the pressure. But right now, I just want to enjoy the moment,” said Ramkumar Ramanathan, speaking to the media after winning the final.

Luca Nardi to face Nagal for title

Top seed Luca Nardi defeated Jason Tseng of Taiwan (6-4, 6-4, 7(8), 6(6)) on Saturday to advance to the men’s singles final at the ATP Chennai Challenger. The Italian will now face India’s top seed in the decider. If Nagal wins the final match, he’ll become the first player since Prajnesh Gunneswaran to break into the Top 100 rankings.