ITF Mysuru Open: Mukund Sasikumar – Vishnu Vardhan pair bags doubles title

PTI, Apr 1, 2023, 7:39 PM IST

Credit: Twitter / @AITA__Tennis

Mysuru: India’s Mukund Sasikumar and Vishnu Vardhan bagged the doubles title at the ITF Mysuru Open as the duo showed admirable endurance against compatriots B Ritvick Choudary and Nikki Poonacha here on Saturday.

The two defeated top seeds Choudary and Poonacha 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour and 10 minutes. Mukund and Vishnu warded off seven break points in the match while they converted two opportunities to break their opponents to ease their way to the title.

”I am very happy to return to Mysore Tennis Club. I was here as a 12-year-old and I was also the winner of the first International tournament here in 2012. Now, I am very happy to win the doubles title, so I think I partially defended my title,” Vardhan said after the match.

”When I came here with my mom in 2012 I was reconsidering playing tennis professionally and from that point to be in Grand Slam ranking and India No 1, it has been a remarkable journey,” said Mukund after the match.

”During the pandemic, my life had hit the rock bottom again but I was decided that irrespective of how this week had gone, this will be a new start to an unforgettable journey this year and I hope to return here soon but hopefully you will see me in bigger tournaments.”

In fact, it was the second match of the day for Mukund and Vishnu and they showed great powers of concentration to stay focused on the task. They also won more than 80 percent of points on both first and second serves, indicating the consistency in their game.

Earlier in the day, Mukund and Vishnu romped into the doubles final upsetting second seeded Australia-Ukraine pair of Blake Ellis and Vladyslav Orlov 6-4, 7-5. The USD 25,000 event is being hosted by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA).

In the singles, India’s campaign ended when Mysuru lad S D Prajwal Dev went down fighting to George Loffhagen of Britain 5-7, 4-6 in a tight semifinal match that lasted precisely two hours.

Loffhagen will face eighth seeded Australian Blake Ellis, who shocked second seeded American Oliver Crawford 7-5, 6-3 in the other last four clash. The final will be played on Sunday.

Results 

(Singles, semifinals) George Loffhagen (GBR) beat SD Prajwal Dev (IND) 7-5, 6-4 (8)  Ellis Blake (AUS) beat (2) Oliver Crawford (USA) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles, Final: Mukund Sasikumar (IND) / Vishnu Vardhan (IND) beat Ritvick Choudary (IND) and Niki Poonacha (IND) 6-3, 6-4.