Aditya Vishal Balsekar Secures India’s Lone Qualifier Spot At Karnataka Open

Aditya Vishal Balsekar delivered India’s key moment at the Karnataka Open ATP Challenger. Balsekar became the only Indian to reach the main draw from qualifying. The ninth-seeded qualifier beat fifth seed Grigoriy Lomakin 6-3, 7-5. The final qualifying round match was played on Monday at SM Krishna Tennis Stadium.

Balsekar stayed composed during key points against the higher-ranked Kazakh. The win gave the home crowd something to celebrate. It also came on a tough day for the Indian group overall. Elsewhere in the main draw, Japan’s Yuta Kawahashi produced the biggest surprise. Kawahashi beat Alex Hernandez in three sets.

Yuta Kawahashi, ranked 637th, upset eighth seed Alex Hernandez of Mexico. Hernandez was ranked 193 places above Kawahashi. Kawahashi won 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 after a tight final set. The result stood out among the Round of 32 matches. It added early drama to the Karnataka Open schedule.

Indian wildcard Maan Kesharwani pushed Dominik Palan before losing 7-6(10), 6-4. Sidharth Rawat competed well but lost to seventh seed Maximus Jones 6-4, 7-3. Another wildcard, Dev Javia, made the second set close. Still, Ognjen Milic won 6-1, 7-6(5).

Karnataka Open qualifying: Kalyanpur and Aggarwal miss out

India’s qualifying hopes ended for Adil Kalyanpur and alternate Parth Aggarwal. Kalyanpur lost to alternate Christopher Papa 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. Aggarwal was beaten by sixth seed Ronit Karki 6-2, 6-1. Other final-round qualifying winners included Alastair Gray, Ryotaro Taguchi, and Taiyo Yamanaka.

The day’s listed results are below, with seeds shown as a prefix. Countries appear in brackets as provided by organisers. The Karnataka Open matches covered the men’s singles Round of 32. The final qualifying round was also completed. Balsekar’s win kept an Indian presence alive in the main draw.

Results

Balsekar’s straight-sets victory ensured India had one qualifier in the Karnataka Open main draw. The rest of the Indian entries listed on Monday fell in the Round of 32. In the qualifiers, Kalyanpur and Aggarwal also exited in their last matches. Kawahashi’s upset over Hernandez remained the standout main-draw result.