Mukund Sasikumar thread

[PKBasu]

His real level is M25s (especially outside Asia) but those haven't yet resumed, so he is forced to play M15s -- where he will generally do very well. I wish he had come to India to play the 3 M15s last month to build a further cushion of points for himself. He has indeed struggled in Challengers this year -- more than he did prior to the Covid disruptions. Two years ago, he was a contender for the NextGen Race to Milan, but hasn't lived up to that potential this year. Good, realistic decision to keep playing lots of M15s to build up his points total and await the India Challengers in February 2022 to hopefully resume his career rebound.

[Dinesh]

They canceled all the tournaments in Thailand scheduled for the first month of the new year. Huge blow for Indian players

[sameerph]

Yes, just when it seemed the tournament were about to restart in Asia, this Omicron threat is looming. I hope at least the tournaments scheduled in end Jan to March in India including Pune ATP and Bengaluru challengers come thru because there is real fear that by that time we would have large third wave in India. Hope not.

[Rajiv]

Just checked last week Doha results ,and Mukund in R1 struggled to beat a 1190 ranked player in 3 sets , than got better of country man Rishab Agrawal but in the next round lost to a 780 ranked opponent in straight sets 0-6 2-6, hope he recovers fast from this slump in 2022.

[sameerph]

Mukund is playing challenger qualies in US and started with a good win over higher ranked player.

At Little Rock Challenger 80, USA IHard)

[Q1] Sasikumar Mukund (IND,431) d. (12) Michail Pervolarakis (GRE,405) 64 76(7)

Next,

[Q2] Sasikumar Mukund (IND,431) vs. (WC) Srong Kirchheimer (USA,564)

[sameerph]

Mukund had a tame loss in Q2.

At Little Rock Challenger 80, USA (Hard)

[Q2] Sasikumar Mukund (IND,431) l. (WC) Srong Kirchheimer (USA,564) 26 36

[jayakris]

A good win, and two bad losses... This is the pattern with many of our players these days

[sameerph]

Mukund lost in second round of qualifying in challenger in Colombia but made it in as a lucky loser.

At Bogota Challenger 80, Colombia (Clay)

[Q1] (3) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,451) d. Juan Sabestian Osorio (COL,1319) 63 62

[Q2] (3) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,451) l. (8) Ignacio Monzon (ARG,567) 16 36

Next,

[R1] {LL) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,451) vs. Victor Durasovic (NOR,304)

[Atithee]

The score lines in the two Q rounds don’t bode well. Let’s see.

[arjun2761]

[R1] (LL) Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND,451) vs. Victor Durasovic (NOR,304) 7-6 (8), 2-6, 2-6

Decent fight but a loss nevertheless for Mukund.

[jayakris]

Mukund is at the M25 in Setbol (Portugal) as the third seed. Drawn against a wildcard Daniel Rodrigues (POR,823). Mukund and a Moroccan, Elliot Benchetrit, won the first round of doubles yesterday, 62 75 over Valentin De Carvalho (POR) and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (USA) and face the 4th seeds next.

[Dinesh]

Betting odds favored the Portuguese player to win today. Sasi is currently trailing 1-6 2-5. To think of it that he chose to play the $25K ITF over Nonthaburi qualies

[sameerph]

Mukund lost 16 26. Bad loss. He is that type of player. Looses bunch of matches, some of them against lowly ranked players like today's. Then, all of a sudden wins matches in a bunch like when he reached a challenger final at the start of rhe year. Just so inconsistent. He started getting some consistency at a good level in 2018/19 but is now back to his old self.

[jayakris]

^^^ Maddening inconsistency, isn't it? I am about to call him Sasi again. No Mukund is seen these days. Once before when I got ready to do this, Mukund started showing up. Maybe he will do that again.

[sameerph]

This week is Mukund is thru to QF.

At M25 Sintra, Portugal

[R1] (2) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,413) d. (WC) Miguel Gomes (POR,1187) 61 61

[R2] (2) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,413) d. Lorenzo Claverie (ITA,1028) 63 62

Next,

[QF] (2) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,413) vs. Adria Soriano Barrera (ESP,648)

Barrer won the title last week here and is on a 7 match winning streak now. So, tough one for Mukund.