Manas continues superb run | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: India’s Manas Dhamne (World No. 556) is making a habit of edging past higher-ranked players in the Bengaluru Open at the SM Krishna tennis stadium. After sending fifth seed Matej Dodig of Croatia (231) packing in the opening round, the 18-year-old wildcard entrant registered a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Kazakhstan’s Beibit Zhukayev (277) in one hour and 52 minutes to reach his maiden ATP Challenger Tour quarterfinal on Wednesday.Dhakshineswar Suresh, another wildcard entrant, was the other Indian to shine in singles, with the world No. 521 posting a 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (4) win over 19-year-old Frenchman Felix Balshaw (718) in a two-hour, one-minute encounter.However, the hosts failed to complete a hat-trick of wins on the day as India No. 1 Sumit Nagal (275) went down 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-7 (11) to second seed Harold Mayot of France in a pulsating three-hour nine-minute contest that kept the home fans on the edge of their seats.Nagal, who was visibly exhausted during the deciding tie-break, had himself to blame as he squandered seven match points. He missed an easy volley to hand Mayot a fifth match point, which the 23-year-old Frenchman converted with an ace. A visibly disappointed Nagal hurled his racket in frustration before returning to his chair. Mayot will face Suresh in the quarterfinals on Thursday.Giant Killer Dhamne“Winning back-to-back matches at a Challenger feels great. I’m already thinking about my next match,” said Dhamne, who will face France’s Matteo Martineau (319) in the last-eight clash.Facing the 6’6″ Kazakh, who boasts a powerful serve and reached a career-high ranking of 171 in May 2024, Dhamne adopted a clear strategy. He stayed deep behind the baseline to neutralise Zhukayev’s serve, an approach that paid dividends as he consistently troubled his opponent with well-placed groundstrokes. Dhamne broke serve in the fifth and seventh games to stay in control of the opening set, which he wrapped up in 32 minutes.Zhukayev, however, forced the match into a decider with a strong all-round display in the second set, firing two aces.The third set was decided by fine margins. In the third game, Dhamne struck an ace at 40-30 to hold serve and move ahead 2-1, a moment that boosted his confidence as the crowd rallied behind him. Zhukayev, leading 30-15 in the sixth game, committed two unforced errors to concede a crucial break. Dhamne sealed the contest with a backhand winner, paving the way for a memorable victory.Suresh shinesBig-serving Suresh, who had both knees taped, showed he was far from a one-dimensi-onal player, mixing crisp volleys with penetrating groundstroke winners against Balshaw, who dropped the opening game. The Frenchman soon found his rhythm, however, breaking Suresh twice with solid returns to level the match and force a decider.With the contest evenly poised, Suresh rediscovered his serving rhythm, with both players holding serve for the first ten games. A trade of breaks pushed the match into a tie-break, where Suresh raised his level, racing to a 6-3 lead with an ace before sealing the win with an overhead smash.Select results: 2-Harold Mayot (Fra) bt Sumit Nagal (Ind) 7-6 (2), 6-1, 7-6 (11); Dhakshineswar Suresh (Ind) bt Felix Balshaw (Fra) 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (4); Manas Dhamne (Ind) bt Beibit Zhukayev (Kaz) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2; 1-Pedro Martinez (Esp) bt Michael Geerts (Bel) 7-6 (3), 6-3; Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (Ger) bt Borno Gojo (Cro) 7-5, 7-6 (9); Matteo Martineau (Fra) bt Eric Vanshelboim (Ukr) 6-2, 6-2; 6-Timofey Skatov (Kaz) bt Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong (Mas) 6-3, 7-5.