Sharath overcomes Sathiyan for record ninth national title
CUTTACK: Veteran Sharath Kamal broke Kamlesh Mehta’s longstanding record of most national titles by winning his ninth crown following a gruelling final against India teammate G Sathiyan here on Wednesday. An exciting final was on the cards with world No 30 taking on 31st ranked Sathiyan. And what a final it turned out to be with Sharath securing it 4-3.
Sathiyan matched Sharath stroke for stroke, yet, he failed to win the elusive maiden trophy despite reaching the final on three occasions.
PRAJNESH ADVANCES
MELBOURNE: India’s top singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat Viktor Galovic 6-4, 6-4 to move to the second round of the Australian Open qualifiers. “It was an average match, I played okay,” Prajnesh said, reflecting on the win. He will next face Spain’s Enrique Lopez Perez.
PRIYANSHU THE LEADER
AHMEDABAD: Gurugram’s Priyanshu Singh (69-73) finished on top of the leaderboard at the PGTI’S Pre Qualifying II for the 2019 season after ending the second round with a total of two-under-142.
From a total field of 99 in Pre Qualifying II, 25 players qualified for the Final Qualifying Stage as three players were tied in 23rd position when the cut was declared at nine-over-153.
HALEP, STEPHENS OUT
SYDNEY:WORLD No 1 Simona Halep was bundled out of the Sydney International by fast-rising Australian Ashleigh Barty 6-4, 6-4. Fourth seed Sloane Stephens too lost in the second round to Kazak qualifier Yulia Putintseva 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0.
ISNER, FERRER OUSTED
AUCKLAND: Top seed John Isner crashed out of the Auckland Classic while a calf injury dashed four-time champion David Ferrer’s hopes. Isner lost to American Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5). Carreno Busta had an armchair ride into the quarter-finals when Ferrer succumbed to injury just three games into their match.
TOMIC BEATS KYRGIOS
MELBOURNE: Bernard Tomic won the battle of Australia’s tennis bad boys with a comical trick serve through his legs at the Kooyong Classic.the world number 83’s good-natured 6-3, 6-4 victory over his longtime friend Kyrgios ended with a flourish when he sent down the sneaky serve, while bouncing another ball, on match point. It caught the relaxed Kyrgios completely off guard, and left him laughing and shaking his head. World No 7 Marin Cilic tested a knee injury posting a gritty 6-3, 4-6, 15-13 win over Kevin Anderson.