India’s Yuki Bhambri gets off to a flying start at Tata Open Maharashtra, moves into round two

After losing the hard-fought first set, the former junior world number one Yuki Bhambri, who made a comeback into the international circuit recently after a two-year break due to injury, started the second with 2-0 lead and looked in good touch.

India's Yuki Bhambri returns to Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia in round one of the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune.

India’s Yuki Bhambri registered a sensational come-from-behind win over Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia in the men’s singles opening round of the 2022 Tata Open Maharashtra at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune on Monday (January 31). The 29-year-old Indian, who had started directly into the main draw at the South Asia’s only ATP 250, secured a 6-7 (10), 6-2, 7-5 win in his opener. The tournament, which is organised by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association, will be played till February 6.

After losing the hard-fought first set, the former junior world number one, who made a comeback into the international circuit recently after a two-year break due to injury, started the second with 2-0 lead and looked in good touch. He didn’t let the momentum shift away before bagging the set easily and levelling the scores.

“Letting the first game slip was a bit yo yo. Sat down, got back but because it is so close and felt so comfortable that gave me confidence to keep attacking which helped me in the second set in the end,” Yuki said after the match.

In the decider, the Delhi-born player converted a break point to take the scores at 3-3 and then added one more set point to keep himself ahead in the game. Though the 29-year-old Slovakian tried his best to make a comeback into the contest, Bhambri held his nerves and clinched the decider to advance into the second round.

Victory at home @yukibhambri comes through a tight first round match in Pune against Kovalik, 6-7 6-2 7-5 for his first tour level win since Miami 2018! #TataOpenMaharashtra pic.twitter.com/40Kts8iMJe

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) January 31, 2022

 Prajnesh Gunneswaran is the other Indian, who faced fifth-seed German Daniel Altmaier. Prajnesh, one of the four Indians to get a wildcard in this event, put up a fight in the first set as he lost it in tie-breaker and eventually went out 7-6(5), 6-2 in a Round of 32 encounter.

Earlier, France’s Quentin Halys sent World No. 82 Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania packing with a stunning 6-1, 6-2 win. The World No. 141 Halys of France looked quite confident against the higher-ranked opponent as he hardly gave any opportunity to Berankis.

In the other round-of-32 match, former World No. 39 Moldovan Radu Albot faced a tough challenge from Federico Gaio of Italy in the second set but managed to sail through with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) victory in the end.

Meanwhile, top-seeded Australian pair of Like Saville and John-Patrick Smith lived up to the expectations as they defeated Stefano Travaglia and Bernabe Zapata Miralles in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. In the other doubles opening round match, French duo of Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul outclassed the third-seeded pair of Szymon Walkow and Jan Zielinski 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) to move into the Last-8 stage.   

Swedish player Elias Ymer also secured an entry into the main draw with an easy 6-4, 6-4 win over Australian Marc Polmans. British Jay Clarke and Gian Marco Moroni of Australia were the other two players, who emerged victorious in the final qualifying round and entered the main draw.