Hitesh Chauhan wins three-set thriller to enter ITF M15 Gwalior second round

Hitesh Chauhan, India’s junior No 1, entered the second round of the ITF M15 Gwalior after beating Aditya Balsekar in three sets. Other Indians had mixed results, with Manish Sureshkumar and Maan Kesharwani advancing, while several compatriots exited early

Gwalior: Roundglass Tennis Academy athlete Hitesh Chauhan entered the second round of the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour M15 tournament, being held at the Chambal Tennis Association courts in Gwalior. The 17-year-old Indian Junior Number 1 overcame Aditya Balsekar 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 in a tight three-set encounter.

In other matches played on Tuesday, Ivan Lutkin beat Adityavardhan Duddupudi of India 7-5, 6-2; Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam defeated compatriot and fifth seed Ishaque Eqbal 6-2, 7-5, while India’s Parth Aggarwal went down to Grigoriy Lomakin of Kazakhstan 6-7, 0-6.

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Indian wild card Sarthak Suden got the better of qualifier Freek Van Donselaar of the Netherlands in three sets, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, while Vivaan Bidasaria lost 2-6, 4-6 to Makar Krivoshchekov, and Raghav Jaisinghani defeated compatriot Deep Munim 6-2, 6-2 in a clash between two qualifiers.

Seventh seed Manish Sureshkumar advanced to the next round, beating fellow Indian Caheer Warik 6-1, 6-2, while Maan Kesharwani made it to the quarterfinals, beating Ajay Malik 6-2, 6-0.

Hitesh entered the main draw of the tournament by getting one of the two spots reserved for junior players inside the top 100 of the World Junior rankings. He will now face the winner of the match between eighth seed Preston Brown of the United States and India’s Rohan Mehra.

Hitesh Chauhan had a setback in the doubles first-round match along with Arjun Rathi, losing to the fourth seeds and experienced pair of Manish Sureshkumar and Aryan Lakshmanan 1-6, 0-6 in straight sets.

The seventh-seeded Manish Sureshkumar also got the better of another Roundglass Academy athlete, Caheer Warik, who entered the main draw through the qualifying rounds 6-1, 6-2. Another qualifier, Vivaan Bidasaria, also lost his first-round match to neutral athlete Makar Krivoshchekov 2-6, 4-6 in straight sets.