Sm krishna memorial open tennis

SM Krishna Memorial Open Tennis: The Indian challenge in the men’s singles section of the SM Krishna Memorial Open Tennis Championship came to an end, with Mukund Sasikumar going down to second seed Alastair Gray of Great Britain in a quarterfinal battle that stretched two hours and 40 minutes at the SM Krishna Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Mukund Sasikumar, the 29-year-old from Chennai who is ranked 536 in the world, produced a stirring fight and pushed the higher-ranked Gray (World No. 287) to the brink before eventually falling 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) in the most gripping match of the tournament.

In another quarterfinal, former World No. 40 Ilya Ivashka continued his dominant run, brushing aside Alex Hernandez of Mexico 6-1, 6-2 in just 72 minutes to storm into the semifinals, while third seed Hamish Stewart of Great Britain was equally clinical, requiring only 57 minutes to dismantle sixth seed Ognjen Milic of Serbia 6-2, 6-1. Fourth seed Petr Bar Biryukov overcame Malaysia’s Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 to complete the semifinal lineup.