In day of three setters, fancied players bite the dust at Bengaluru Open

Bengaluru, Nov 22: On a day when the fancied players bit the dust, Ante Pavic caused the biggest ripple as he showed fourth seed Elias Ymer the door in a pre-quarterfinal match of the $100,000 Bengaluru Open at the KSLTA Stadium here on Wednesday. The unheralded Croatian who was a 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(5) winner, will clash with Jay Clarke of Great Britain who upset fifth seed Ramkumar Ramnathan of India in a grueling three-setter 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinal.

Jay Clarke's battle with racism

Only third seed Yuki Bhambri was able to win in straight sets, advancing to the quarters after beating Pedro Martinez 6-2, 7-6 (7/0).

In a second-round match, both Clarke and Ramkumar kept going at each other. None were able to break the other's serve in the first set. However, Ramkumar grabbed a 3-1 lead in the tie-breaker and eventually went on to win the first set after making the best use of his serve.

In the fourth game of the second set, Ramkumar committed two double faults and momentarily lost focus. Clarke exploited Ramkumar's poor backhand returns and then charged to the net to gain the advantage at deuce. He broke Ramkumar on the second break point to go up 3-1. Clarke again broke Ramkumar at 5-2 to push the match to the third set.

In the decider, both players had a chance to gain early momentum. Ramkumar had three break points in the first game but Clarke struck two powerful aces to hold on to his serve. In the third game again, Ramkumar failed to capitalize when Clarke committed a double fault at 30-all. Clarke fought back by pushing Ramkumar to play six backhand returns, the seventh finally falling into the net. He turned the tables with two powerful serves and held on again. Ramkumar could have pushed the match to a tie-breaker again but his serve was finally broken in the 10th game.

"There was no rhythm in the first set," Clarke said after his win. "He had served well in the whole match. Both of us didn't have chance to break each other's serve. But I had a chance in the end when it was 5-4 and I took it. Like I said, there weren't many chances to break him in the first set. I played a terrible tie-breaker that's all and he grabbed that opportunity. I didn't do anything wrong. I knew my chances would come and it did in the second set."

In another upset, lucky loser Antoinne Escoffier of France sent home eighth seed Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakstan 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Top seed Slovanian Blaz Kavcic was stretched by Spaniard Mario Villela Martinez before prevailing 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to enter the last eight stage. Wildcard Sumit Nagal was a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 winner over Brydan Klein of Great Britain.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who had felled sixth seed Evan King in the opening round, continued his fine run eliminating Australian Marc Polmans 6-2, 6-7 (1/7), 6-1 in a fast paced game.

Also advancing to the quarterfinals was Tsung-Hua Yang of Teipei who overcame qualifier Borna Gojo 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. Gojo who had ousted second seed Adrian Menendez-Maceiras in the opening round.

Prajnesh began on the right note breaking his opponent twice and racing to a 4-0 lead. The 28-year-old served with fervour and achieved great results as he clinched the first set 6-2. In the second set, Polmans made a remarkable recovery from being 2-4 down and took the set to a tie-breaker and won. However, in the decider, Prajnesh didn't give a semblance of a chance to his opponent as he sent down winners past his tiring rival.

Results (Pre-quarters)

Singles (prefix indicated seeding)

1-Blaz Kavcic (SLO) bt Mario Villela Martinez (ESP) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3;
Ante Pavic (CRO) bt 4-Elias Ymer (SWE) 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (7/5);
Marc Polmans (AUS) lost to Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) 6-2, 6-7 (1/7), 6-1;
Tsung-Hua Yang (TPE) bt Q-Borna Gojo 2-6, 6-4, 6-2;
Sumit Nagal (IND) bt Brydan Klein (GBR) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5;
5-Ramkumar Ramnathan (IND) lost to Jay Clarke (GBR) 7-6(3/7), 2-6, 4-6;
8-Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) lost to LL-Antoinne Escoffier (FRA) 3-6, 6-2, 3-6

3-Yuki Bhambri (IND) bt Pedro Martinez 6-2, 7-6 (7/0)

(With agency inputs)