Indian pair of N Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan pulled off a surprise by shocking third seed pair of Marc-Andrea Huesler of Switzerland and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo of Chile in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 in the doubles quarter-final match of the €46,600 ATP Challenger, here in Germany.
Balaji/Vardhan excelled in all departments of the game. They fired eight aces and committe three double faults. They won three break points out of six and saved one break point out of one.
While their first service was 67 per cent in, they won 82 per cent points (27/33) on their first service and 56 per cent points (9/16) on their second service.
Huesler/Podlipnik-Castillo got three aces to their credit and committed a solitary double fault. They saved three out of six break points. While their service was 59 per cent in, they won 67 per cent points (18/27) on their first service and 42 per cent points (8/19) on their second service.
The Indian combination next face top seeds Roman Jebavy of Czech Republic and Matwe Middelkoop of Netherlands in the doubles semi-final.
MUKUND LOSES: Sixthteen seeded Indian Sasikumar Mukund top outplayed by top seed Aljaz Bedene of Slovakia in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 in singles third round match in the €46,600 ATP Challenger Slovenia Open in Portoroz, Slovania. Mukund earned € 730 and seven points. (UNI)
