Dhakshineswar shines with two wins as Nagal also reaches Asian Games tennis last 16
Dhakshineswar Suresh enjoyed a memorable double on Tuesday, winning his men's singles match before teaming up with Yuki Bhambri to reach the doubles quarterfinals, while India's top-ranked player Sumit Nagal also advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Asian Games tennis competition here.
Dhakshineswar, who received a bye in the opening round, began his day by beating Indonesia's Gunawan Trismuwantara 7-5 7-6(2) in the singles second round.
The 364th-ranked Indian then returned to the court alongside Bhambri and the pair defeated Kazakhstan's Beibit Zhukayev and Denis Yevseyev 6-1 7-5 to enter the men's doubles quarterfinals.
Dhakshineswar held his nerve in a tightly contested singles encounter despite a significant ranking gap between the two players, with Trismuwantara placed outside the top 2,000.
Nagal, meanwhile, bounced back from his disappointing Davis Cup outing in Seoul to beat Korea's Seongchan Hong 6-4 6-0 and book his place in the last 16.
The Indian will next face Uzbekistan's Sergey Fomin in the pre-quarterfinals.
Nagal's match had begun on Monday but was completed only on Tuesday after rain disrupted play. The contest stretched over three hours and four minutes across the two days, with Nagal eventually sealing a straight-sets win.
After breaking Hong in the 10th game to take the opening set, Nagal asserted control and raced through the second.
"Today was a challenging day for both players, with the weather causing a start-stop match and the shift from outdoor to indoor courts, match started yesterday, finished today," India coach Ashutosh Singh told PTI.
"With four courts running side by side and a lot happening around the competition area, it wasn't an easy environment, although the organisers are doing their best," he said.
Singh said Nagal took some time to settle before finding his rhythm and taking control of the contest.
"Sumit took a little time to settle in, but once he found his rhythm and took control, he played really well, especially when he was ahead. Pro players have to adjust to the conditions and circumstances in front of them," he added.
N Sriram Balaji and Anirudh Chandrasekar also made a winning start in the men's doubles, defeating Nepal's Abhishek Bastola and Pradip Khadka 6-2 6-1 in their opening-round match.
There was disappointment in the mixed doubles, though, as Balaji and Ankita Raina went down 4-6 4-6 to Hong Kong's Eudice Chong and Kairan Thompson in the last match of the day for India.
