Tata Open: Manas, Sumit bow out on the opening day

PUNE: Manas Dhamne, all of 15, made an impression with his fearless approach before being overpowered by Michael Mmoh, while a tenacious Sumit Nagal, true to his style, fought hard before bowing out of the men’s singles event in the Tata Open Maharashtra at the Balewadi Stadium here on Monday.

Given a wildcard entry into the country’s premier men’s tennis tournament, Manas got a taste of high-level tennis on the opening day of the ATP 250 event before exiting with a 2-6, 4-6 defeat against Mmoh, the World No.115 from America. Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic outgunned wildcard entrant Sumit 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in an intense opening-round match.

Up against a physically stronger and technically superior opponent, teenager Manas gave a glimpse of what he could bring to the table as he grows up and matures. He did not have the legs to win intense rallies and lacked power to trouble his rival consistently, but showed a lot of heart for a fight. “There were a few important moments and I could have played better. I have learnt how to handle such situations,” Manas said after the match.

Manas had the home fans interested in the fourth game of the opening set when he hit a stunning backhand passing winner and followed that up with a solid forehand, which Mmoh netted to earn two break points. The American though served strong to hold and made it a one-way traffic after that.

Meanwhile, Sumit struggled to contain his unforced errors but as the match wore on, he got more control on his ground strokes. Krajinovic packed a lot of power in his ground strokes, which he used to pin Sumit on either flank to open the court and then smash the volley winners for points. The Serb charged to the net more to break Sumit’s rhythm.

In other matches, Serbian Laslo Djere knocked out the fifth-seeded Slovakian Alex Molcan 6-2, 6-4 while Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor sent seventh seed Spaniard Jaume Munar packing with a 6-4, 7-5 win. Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi made short work of Chinese Taipei’s Chun-Hsin Tseng 6-0, 6-3, with Roberto Carballes Baena defeating fellow Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles by a scoreline of 6-1, 7-5.

RESULTS: Singles: First round: Manas Dhamne lost to Michael Mmoh 2-6, 4-6; Filip Krajinovic bt Sumit Nagal 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Alex Malcon lost to Laslo Djere 2-6, 4-6; Tallon Griekspoor bt Jaume Munar 6-4, 7-5; Chun-Hsin Tseng lost to Benjamin Bonzi 0-6, 3-6; Roberto Carballes Baena bt Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-1, 7-5; Marco Cecchinato bt Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-2, 6-2