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Sumit appears to be a slow starter and therefore, these rain breaks clearly were a disadvantage to him. His Brazilian opponent also appeared to be in great form. He went on to win the title beating top seed Moutet in straight sets in the final.

Still, Sumit will move up close to 280 with this run.

Next target for him to get at least around 240 in next 2 months to get US open qualies and try to get top 200 by year end.

At $54K(+H) Jeruslaem Challenger, Israel (Hard)

[R1] (4) Saketh Myneni (IND,245) bye
[R1] (14) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,295) bye

[R2] (4) Saketh Myneni (IND,245) vs. Andrea Vavassori (ITA,402)
[R2] (14) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,295) vs. Gonzalo Escobar (ECU,323)

Both the second round are tomorrow.

WW today.

[R2] (4) Saketh Myneni (IND,245) 7-6 6-3 Andrea Vavassori (ITA,402)
[R2] (14) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,295) 6-1 6-4 Gonzalo Escobar (ECU,323)

Good show, but of course this isn’t in Central
Asia, but in the western corner of Asia, in Jerusalem.

Oh, yes, but found it but convenient to include it here instead of opening a separate thread. We can change the name of the title to Central/West Asia.

These are third round match-ups-

At $54K(+H) Jeruslaem Challenger, Israel (Hard)

[R3] (4) Saketh Myneni (IND,245) vs. Tak Khunn Wang (FRA,321)
[R3] (14) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,295) vs. (2) John-Patrick Smith (AUS,239)

Really wish Saki wins a couple of matches more. That will almost make sure making the Wimbledon qualies cut-off and make missing French open qualies somewhat worthwhile.

Saketh won his R3 comfortably 64 64.

And Mukund comes up with an excellent upset win over the second seeded Australian.

At $54K(+H) Jeruslaem Challenger, Israel (Hard)

[R3] (4) Saketh Myneni (IND,245) d. Tak Khunn Wang (FRA,321) 64 64
[R3] (14) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,295) d. (2) John-Patrick Smith (AUS,239) 16 63 63

Saki is now 235 in the live rankings. Wimbledon qualies is getting more or less assured now. One more win and he will get close to 220 which will ensure he gets in the initial entry list itself.

Next,

[QF] (4) Saketh Myneni (IND,245) vs. Eden Lesham (ISR,478)

[QF] (14) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,295) vs. (9) Filip Peliwo (CAN,302)

Excellent win for Mukund. Leshem seems to be a winnable opponent for Saki.

Great upset win for Mukund.

Nice wins for both! The QFs also look winnable for both.

Rooting for one more win for both at the Y.

At $54K(+H) Jeruslaem Challenger, Israel (Hard)

[QF] (4) Saketh Myneni (IND,245) 6-4 6-3 Eden Lesham (ISR,478)



[QF] (14) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,295) 7-6 6-7 2-6 (9) Filip Peliwo (CAN,302)

Great. Saketh is now 223 in live rankings. Wimbledon qualifying is now ensured. Missing French open qualies now looks worth it. It will be even better if he can win a couple of matches more.

Sad that Mukund could not convert his first set win into a match win against a player whom he had beaten last year. He will need to take these opportunities to move up the rankings.

Good to see Saketh win and secure entry to Wimbledon qualies.

Despite the loss, good tournament for Mukund. Both 22 year old Mukund and 21 year old Sumit Nagal are showing that they belong at the challenger level and hopefully will go deep in a couple of tournaments to move towards the top 200 this year.

Go Saketh!!! ... It is really nice to see that Mukund is playing clearly at a good challenger level. Nice to see Sumit back to some good form too. I have hopes for both of them to get into top-150 and get close to top-100 at some point in the next 2-3 years.