Haase, Jeevan-Bopanna, Bhambri advance to next round following superb wins

After an action-packed first day, a lot was expected off the second day at the Mhalunge Balewadi Stadium. With many Indian players in action, tennis fans flocked in big numbers to the stadium. Let’s take a look at the matches:

Kevin Anderson / Jonathan Erlich vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert / Gilles Simon
The highly anticipated match started the proceedings for second day of the tournament on the Centre Court. Anderson and Erlich were quick to seize the opportunity as they took an early lead. Herbert and Simon were not able to match their opposite numbers and lost the first set 3-6. But the French duo got their act together to win the second set 6-3. It was neck-to-neck in the initial points of the Super Tiebreaker, but Herbert and Simon were able to snatch a win in the end (10-5).

Sumit Nagal vs Ilya Ivashka
Nagal and Ivashka, having won in the qualifiers, faced each other in the first round of the Singles Main Draws on Court 1. The Belarusian player wasted no time and took the first set 6-3. Nagal continued to struggle with Ivashka hitting the ball sweetly and winning points with ease. There was no way back for the Indian as Ivashka raced away to a win in straight sets.

Robert Lindstedt / Franko Skugor vs Marton Fucsovics / Mikhail Kukushkin
Lindstedt and Skugor were off and running against Fucsovics and Kukushkin. The doubles top seed of the tournament, broke serve of the opponents and won the first set 6-4. Things got worse for the unseeded pair with Lindstedt and Skugor stamping their authority. The number one seeded pair played to their potential and won the set 6-1.

Robin Haase vs Blaz Kavcic
In one of the most entertaining matches of the day, Haase edged Kavcic in the first set by winning 8-6 in the tie-breaker. The crowd got their money’s worth with players giving their all into the match. Haase had an answer to everything Kavcic was throwing at him. With Haase leading 6-5, Kavcic lost his serve to hand the set to the Dutch player. Fifth seeded Haase, eventually won the match 7-6(8-6), 7-5 to move into the second round.

Laslo Djere vs Marius Copil
In a hard-fought first set, both Djere and Copil, were playing beautiful Tennis with an eye to overpower the other. But Copil kept his cool and won the first set 7-5. The Serb came back in the match to win the second set 6-4 and equalise. With momentum on his side, Djere broke Copil’s serve to take the lead in the third set, only to lose it on his serve and equal the score at 4-4. But Djere took the last stride and finished off the match 7-5 to advance to the next round.

Roman Jebavy / Jiri Vesely vs Radu Albot / Tennys Sandgren
Jebavy and Vesely started off confidently in their first round match against Albot and Sandgren. The Czech pair showed their co-ordination and went on to win the first set 6-4. They continued with their impressive play and won the second set (6-3) as well. They completed the match in just over an hour to advance into the second round.

Thiago Monteiro vs Ruben Bemelmans
In a neck-to-neck encounter, Monteiro and Bemelmans fought for two hours and forty one minutes before Monteiro won the match in third set tiebreaker. Bemelmans took the first set 7-6(7-4) to take the lead but Monteiro won second set quite convincingly (6-3). Third set entertained the crowd quite a bit with both players giving their all. The set went into a tiebreaker as Monteiro kept his cool to win it 10-8. The final scorecard read 6-7(4-7), 6-3, 7-6(10-8) in favour of the Brazilian.  

Yuki Bhambri vs Arjun Kadhe
In an all-Indian face-off, hometown boy, Arjun Kadhe faced 2009 Australian Open Junior winner Yuki Bhambri at the Centre Court. Yuki was aggressive and quick to win the first set 6-3 and put pressure on hometown boy, Kadhe. Yuki was clinical in the second set as well and made sure the set didn’t go in the tiebreaker. Kadhe tried his best but Yuki won the match 6-3, 6-4 in the end.

Rohan Bopanna / Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan vs Leander Paes / Purav Raja
The crowd loved every bit of the match when all four Indians came on the court. Bopanna and Jeevan were clinical from the starting points and made sure they don’t let Paes and Raja settle. Jeevan was serving well and Bopanna with his powerful serves, was making life difficult. They won the first set 6-3 and continued with their aggressive play in the second set as well. They won it 6-2 to advance in the second round.

Ben McLachlan / Andreas Molteni vs Hans Podlipnik-Castillo / Andrei Vasilevski
McLachlan and Molteni were off to a perfect start against tournament’s third seed, winning the first set 7-6(7-4) in the tiebreaker. But Podlipnik-Castillo and Vasilevski fought back to win the second set 6-4 and sent the game in Super Tiebreaker. Again, the third seeded pair showed their class and went on to win the Super Tiebreaker 10-8.

With that an eventful day at the Mhalunge Balewadi Stadium came to an end. Second round matches will begin tomorrow and things are definitely going to become more interesting. Follow Tata Open Maharashtra on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and use #AdvantagePune to interact with us!