Mohit packs off fancied Malik

Mohit Mayur stunned fifth seed Vijayant Malik 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in the opening round of the ITF Davangere Open men’s Futures championship here on Monday.

The Tamil Nadu youngster staged a sprited fightback and won in two hours and 29 minutes. Mohit lost the first set 4-6 and trailed 0-3 in the second. However, Mohit raised the level of his game and was soon back on level terms.

Mohit closed out the match as Malik made many unforced errors in the decider.
“I played nearly my best tennis today and I feel happy beating Malik. He is a good player and it was a very tough match,” said Mohit.

Top seed Sriram Balaji rallied to down wild card Lakshit Sood 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-0 in another first round tie.

Davis Cupper Sanam Singh eased past Arjun Khade 6-4, 6-0 while fourth seed and former National champion V M Ranjeet defeated Rakshay Thakkar by an identical scoreline.

Wild card Sagar Manjanna suffered a 4-6, 0-6 defeat at the hands of American Mchael Shabaz.

Results (first round, Indians unless specified): Mohit Mayur bt Vijayant Malik 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2; Michael Shabaz (US) bt Sagar Manjanna 6-4, 6-0; V M Ranjeet bt Rakshay Thakkar 6-4, 6-0; Sriram Balaji bt Lakshit Sood 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-0; P Vignesh bt Ajay Selvaraj 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6); Sanam Singh bt Arjun Khade 6-4, 6-0.