Divij Sharan and Saketh Myneni won their first title together this season when Malek Jaziri and Denis Molchanov opted out of the final, down a match point, in the ATP Izmir Cup in Turkey.
The match was on even keel with two pairs splitting the first two sets. The Indians won the first set 7-6(5) before the second 4-6. In the match tie-breaker, the third seed Indians were up a match point at 9-8 when Tunisia’s Jaziri took a medical break for pain in his ankle.
After a three-minute treatment he decided not to continue and retired from the match.
Both teams held serves in the first set and Indians won the tie-break 7-5.
Till 4-5 in the second set, Sharan and Myneni saved 11 out of 11 break points but got broken on the 12th, losing the set 4-6.
Interestingly, Jaziri and Molchanov won 12 more points than Myneni and Sharan and still ended up losing the match.
Yuki loses
Fourth seeded Indian wildcard Yuki Bhambri went down to second-seeded Korean Hyeon Chung 5-7, 4-6 in the men's singles final of $125,000 ATP Challenger event in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan on Sunday.
The final appearance, however, fetched the Indian 75 ATP points and $10,600. World No 75 Chung won $18,000 and 125 ATP points.
“He (Chung) is a great retriever of the ball. I had my chances though in the first, even had set points on his serve, but I got broken while serving. There is a reason why he is in the top 100 and he showed it,” Yuki told Deccan Herald.
“It was still a really good, high intensity match and I gave all that I had.”
The 23-year-old Delhi boy would be coming home for a couple of weeks before heading to play in $125,000 Tashkent Challenger in October.