Promising Indian contenders faced a tough outing against seasoned foreign professionals in the opening round of the prestigious Mumbai $25,000 ITF Men’s Tennis Tournament, organised under the aegis of the All India Tennis Association (AITA), at the Dr. G.A. Ranade Tennis Centre on March 18 in Mumbai.

The tournament showcased a mixed bag of results, highlighting both the challenges and triumphs faced by local players. In the match between Digvijay Pratap Singh of India and Sweden’s Leo Borg, the 22-year-old son of tennis legend Björn Borg, unseeded Leo displayed composure and skill to register a straight-sets win over the eighth seed, 6-4, 6-3, in just 1 hour and 20 minutes. Digvijay, making a commendable comeback after battling serious illness last year, fought valiantly but fell short against the experienced Swede.

Top seed Florent Bax from France demonstrated his prowess, comfortably defeating Indian player Venkataraman A, 6-0, 6-3. Similarly, Indian talent Manish Sureshkumar prevailed against Chirag Duhan in an all-Indian clash with the same scoreline. Dutch player Stijin Pel edged past Kabir Hans, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-1, while fourth seed Alexandr Binda from Italy overcame Abhinav Shanmugam 6-2, 6-7(1), 6-2. Dev Javia impressed with a straight-sets victory over Hitesh Chauhan, 7-5, 6-4.

Fifth seed Philip Sekulic from Australia defeated Arjun Rathi 6-0, 3-6, 6-2, while Timofei Derepasko staged a comeback after dropping the first set 0-6 to beat Tarun Karra 6-4, 6-2. Third seed Karan Singh advanced comfortably with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Aditya Balsekar.

Following the opening round, nine foreign players progressed to the next stage, compared to seven Indian contenders, highlighting the competitive nature of the tournament, which is being held for the third time in recent years.

Singles Main Draw Results – First Round (Mumbai $25K ITF Men’s Tournament)

• Florent Bax (1) bt Venkataraman A (IND) 6-0, 6-3
• Manish Sureshkumar (IND) bt Chirag Duhan (IND) 6-0, 6-3
• Stijin Pel (NED) bt Kabir Hans (IND) 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-1
• Alexandr Binda (4, ITA) bt A. Shanmugam (IND) 6-2, 6-7(1), 6-2
• Dev Javia (IND) bt Hitesh Chauhan (IND) 7-5, 6-4
• Philip Sekulic (5, AUS) bt Arjun Rathi (IND) 6-0, 3-6, 6-2
• Timofei Derepasko (RUS) bt Tarun Karra (IND) 0-6, 6-4, 6-2
• Karan Singh (3, IND) bt Aditya Balsekar (IND) 6-4, 6-2
• Leo Borg (SWE) bt Digvijay Pratap Singh (8, IND) 6-4, 6-3
• Bekhan Atlangeriev (RUS) bt Udit Kamboj (IND) 6-4, 6-4