$50K(+H) Pune/$100K(+H) Bengaluru Challengers Nov 13-26, 2017

[jayakris]

Dalwinder Singh is at 36 33 against LL Escoffier.... And he breaks to go ahead 36 42, serving...

Since we are talking food, I know you can grind dal, but how does one wind dal? How does a dal-winder do that? He needs to wind this up against Es-Coffee-er with a win.

[PKBasu]

Sadly, Dalwinder (IND, 1001) is broken by Escoffier (FRA, 420), who was the top seed in the qualifiers. 3-6, 4-4 now.

Update: quick end for Dalwinder: 36 46

[jaydeep]

In the doubles, Divij-Elgin scored a comeback win over Blancaneaux-Clarke ... Sumit-Ymer scored an upset win over Jeevan-VSP.
Next, Yuki faces Martinez and RamK faces Clarke.

Doubles
[R1] (1) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Divij Sharan (IND) bt Geoffrey Blancaneaux (FRA)/ Jay Clarke (ENG) 57 64 10-5
[R1] Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Elias Ymer (SWE) bt N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) 64 16 7-10

[QF] (1) Mikhail Elgin (RUS)/ Divij Sharan (IND) vs Sumit Nagal (IND)/ Elias Ymer (SWE)

[R2] (3) Yuki Bhambri (IND,122) vs Pedro Martinez (ESP,258)
[R2] (5) Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND,139) vs Jay Clarke (GBR,279)

[sameerph]

Dalwinder just gave it away there after being 4-2 up in the second set, serving double fault after double fault and making one unforced error after another. This guy has good ground strokes but seems mentally weak. That is why he may be still at a ranking where he is right now.

So, the expected 4 Indians make the second round - Yuki, RamK, Prajnesh and Sumit. All are having tough but winnable foreign opponents in second round. Hope for the best tomorrow.

[arjun2761]

Good to the top 4 Indians make the second round. Would love to see at least 3 make the QFs and of course end up with another all-Indian final!

[Rajiv]

If Dvij were to win this tournament , it surely would be tainted
They were a set down and just hanging in there and until that period their opponents had the edge and noses in front evident from the fact , Elgin was always frustrated throwing his raquet around and , Dviij had to constantly go up to him to motivate him and to avoid another embarrassing first round exit which looked well on the cards

Given below is the link to the match and watch from 1:25:20, Elgin is already throwing his raquet and just few seconds later at 1:25:50 which one can freeze , their opponents return is clearly IN , at least a feet inside and the shockingly the linesman shows clear bias and call it out and equally surprising the umpire turns a blind eye leaving the Frenchmen in disbelief with incessant pleading but all fell on deaf years of the Umpire.
This totally unsettled their opponents who rightly felt robbed and in the ensuing point after that horrendous call, nervously they hit Dvij ball which was sailing out and eventually lost their focus , momentum and motivation and went on to loose the match.

That bad line call turned the entire match in Dvij / Elgin favour

https://livestream.com/ATP/events/79447 ... /166258452

[sameerph]

I don't know if it would be bias in a doubles match which involved only 1 Indian or was it a just a bad mistake by the linseman but Divij clearly benefitted.

Divij is lying in 51st position in the ATP rankings as of now. If he can reach the final here, he would be end the year in top 50. So, a couple of key matches coming up for him. Next up against Sumit and Ymer.

[prasen9]

This incident is so unfortunate. But, I guess bad calls happen I'm guessing no technology here?

[bujilover]

Prajnesh off to a great start - 5-2 on serve.

[jayakris]

..and just few seconds later at 1:25:50 which one can freeze , their opponents return is clearly IN , at least a feet inside and the shockingly the linesman shows clear bias and call it out and equally surprising the umpire turns a blind eye leaving the Frenchmen in disbelief with incessant pleading but all fell on deaf years of the Umpire.

I too thought it was a half foot in when I saw it first, but was shocked when I did a frame by frame that it was nowhere near that far in. It is definitely on the line, but quite probably not out. So, I can no longer say that it was such a bad call. It is the kind I have seen called out by mistake at times. Quite like the "you can't be serious, you cannot be serious, the chalk flew all over" call on John McEnroe's serve.

[Rajiv]

Yes a good start for Prajnesh to take the first set
and cannot even watch as the live stream and atp web page says "event not yet started" , today even my phone is letting me down

[Rajiv]

Prajnesh looked well set to take the second set and the match , and serving at 6-5 got broken at a crucial time and eventually lost the TB and 1 set all now.

[PKBasu]

The livestream is working for me now (at last!) and Prajnesh has raced to a 3-0 lead in the final set. Opponent to serve.
Polmans and Prajnesh both hold (the former at 15, the latter at 30), and it's 4-1 in the final set. Both playing hard-hitting but erratic tennis.
Prajnesh bosses Polmans' service game, and breaks him at 15. 5-1, Prajnesh to serve for the match.
Prajnesh holds at 30 to win the final set 6-1, and the match!

[PKBasu]

[R2] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND, 252) d. Marc Polmans (AUS, 322) 62 67(1) 61

Prajnesh is drawn to play Yuki in the QF. Polmans is a 20-year-old with a career-high ranking of 175 earlier this year, so this is another good win for Prajnesh (who does, however, have another win over Polmans earlier this year in a Futures).

[prasen9]

Wow. Let me do a Jay here Our players really like home-cooked food. I think I do too

Actually, I am serious. By and large, the top 4 or so have utilized the home tournament to get some points.