Thompson, Bhambri move up in Chennai

Chennai: Top seed Jordan Thompson of Australia and second seed Yuki Bhambri of India advanced with straight set wins in the Chennai Open ATP Challenger tennis tournament on Tuesday. Thompson beat Mohamed Maamoun of Egypt 6- 4, 6- 2. Bhambri got past Bernabe Zapata Miralles of Spain 6- 1, 7- 6. Bhambri blew away the Spaniard’s challenge in the first set, winning it 6- 1 in quick time. In the second set the Spaniard recovered well and played with much more intensity. Both players traded a break before the set moved to the tiebreak which Bhambri won 7- 3. In the other match, Thompson was broken twice but he broke back thrice to take the first set 6- 4. In the second set also, he broke Karim thrice to win it 6- 2. Local lad Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam, a qualifier, moved into the second round when Ivan Nedelko of Russia retired due to stomach cramps. Martinez Pedro of Spain beat Prajnesh Gunneswaran, the eighth seed 6- 1, 6- 4.