Chennai Open: Yuki Bhambri enters quarter-finals

Top seed Jordan Thompson defeated qualifier Wishaya Trongcharaoenchaikul 6-3, 6-2 to move into the lasteight. Local lads Vishnu Vardhan/N Sriram Balaji registered a 7-5, 6-3 against Alessandro Bega/ Kimmer Coppejans in the second round of the men’s doubles category, sealing a spot in the semi-finals. The game stretched for over an hour and seven minutes.  

“We obviously did not return well as a team throughout the match. It proved to be the difference between the two sides. Our first set was a decent one but they played better tennis than us,” Kimmer Coppejans reflected after the loss against Balaji/Vardhan. 

The pattern of the win was similar to that of Monday when the pair defeated Dmitry Popko/ Bernabe Zapata Miralles in straight sets after battling it out in the opening set.  

Another local pairing of Prajnesh Gunneswaran/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth lost 4-6, 6-2, 4-10 to Cem Ilkel/ Danilo Petrovic. The former came back strongly in the second set but was thrashed in the deciding tie-breaker.

Luca Margaroli/ Saketh Myneni prevailed in a nail-biter after defeating Tuna Altuna/ Mohamed Safwat. Earlier in the day, Safwat won his singles tie against Arjun Kadhe. 

Kadhe, who defeated Saketh Myneni in the opening round, fell to the Egyptian 4-6, 2-6. Korean Duckhee Lee continued his fine run with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam. Antoine Escoffier came up trumps against Gerard Granollers  7-6, 6-2.