TENNIS | Dane Sweeny escapes the clutches of Niki Poonacha

Dane Sweeny exults after successful a thriller in opposition to NIki Poonacha within the Maha Open Challenger tennis event in Pune on Friday, February 23, 2024.
| Photograph Credit score: Kamesh Srinivasan

Dane Sweeny of Australia saved two match factors, bounced again from being down 2-5 within the decider, to beat Niki Poonacha 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) within the quarterfinals of the $133,250 Maha Open Challenger tennis on the Balewadi Stadium on Friday.

Consistently cheered by the followers, Poonacha, who had knocked out prime seed Sumit Nagal within the earlier spherical, did every little thing proper besides the ending act, in a gripping contest.

To his credit score, the Aussie was a fighter to the core. He saved the 2 match factors on his serve within the eighth recreation of the third set with unimaginable winners following robust rallies. He pushed Poonacha and the errors overtook the Indian ultimately. Poonacha additionally saved two match factors from 1-6 within the tie-break, however hit one lengthy to carry the curtains down on his problem.

It was additionally the tip of the Indian problem, as S. Mukund gave a walkover to Adam Walton of Australia owing to meals poisoning which wanted pressing medical consideration.

The doubles champions of the final two occasions in Chennai and Bengaluru, Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan had been overwhelmed by the Aussie duo of Tristan Schoolkate and Walton in straight units.

It was one other bitter capsule to swallow for the house followers, when prime seeds Arjun Kadhe and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan did not win a set of their semifinal in opposition to Dan Added and Yunseong Chung.

The outcomes: Quarterfinals: Dane Sweeny (Aus) bt Niki Poonacha 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(3); Valentin Vacherot (Mon) bt Enzo Couacaud (Fra) 7-6(2), 6-4; Adam Walton (Aus) w/o S. Mukund; Duje Ajdukovic (Cro) bt Alexey Zakharov 6-4, 6-3.

Doubles: Semifinals: Dan Added (Fra) & Yunseong Chung (Kor) bt Arjun Kadhe & Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 6-3, 6-4; Tristan Schoolkate & Walton (Aus) bt Saketh Myneni & Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6(6), 6-2.