Vishnu out of singles in Kyoto ATP event, advances in doubles

New Delhi: It was all over for Vishnu Vardhan in the singles event of the ATP Challenger tournament

in Kyoto after suffering first round defeat but his challenge was still alive in the doubles event where he made the quarter-finals along with with Divij Sharan. Vishnu put up a good fight against Australia`s Sadik Kadir and even took the first set but lost 7-6(4), 2-6, 4-6 in the USD 35,000 carpet event. He though progressed to the doubles last-eight pair stage with Divij after the pair recorded an easy 6-4, 6-2 win over local wild card pair of Tasuku Iwami and Kentic Takeuchi. Another Indian progressing to the doubles quarterfinals was Purav Raja, who along with Kadir, beat Yuichi Ito and Yuich Sugita in straight sets. The third seed Indo-Australian pair beat the local pair 6-3, 6-4 in the first round match. They will next take on another local pair in Junr Mitsuhashi and Takao Suzuki. Vishnu and Divij are up against Greg Jones and Jose Statham, who stunned top seed Australians Rameez Junaid and Joesph Sirianni 6-2, 6-2 in their opening round. PTI