Mukund Sasikumar thread

[Dinesh]

Mukund surprisingly made it to the qualifying list at the Eastbourne ATP 250. He played and lost in Cali, Colombia this week, has not entered anywhere else for next week, and is slated to play a couple of challengers in the US after that, so perhaps it will be worth it to make this trip?! Q1 losers earn $2,120 British Pounds.

[sameerph]

Yes, worth making the trip, prize money earned will more than compensate for his expenses for making the trip.

He got lucky with getting in but not lucky with the draw as he got top seed in first round.

At Eastbourne ATP 250

[Q1] Sasikumar Mukund (IND,381) vs. (1) Luca Van Assche (FRA,75)

Frenchman Assche is the second highest ranked under 20 player in the world. So, it will be tough.

[Rajiv]

Here I won't be surprised if Mukund manages to spring a surprise, as Mukund has a better playing exposure on Grass compared to the young Frenchman, plus he had shown around 7/8 months ago that he has the ability to raise his game when he took out 105 ranked Duckworth

[sameerph]

Mukund started well and was up 4-1 in first set with Van Assche also making errors but once Van Assche got his bearings it was tough for Mukund to match him in ground strokes. Lost 5 straight games to lose the first set 4-6.

[sameerph]

Got bageled in second set. Did not watch the second set. It was clear after the first set that Van Assche has got his bearings and would be too good for Mukund now. Mukund had to mix it up a little by coming to net and all but none of our players are good at net these days.

At Eastbourne ATP 250

[Q1] Sasikumar Mukund (IND,381) l. (1) Luca Van Assche (FRA,75) 46 06

[Dinesh]

Mukund has made it to the qualifying list at next week’s Washington ATP 500 tournament.

[sameerph]

Mukund has just sneaked it to the qualifying draw at Toronto Masters.

At Toronto ATP 1000, Canada

[Q1] Mukund Sasikumar (IND,345) vs. (10) Radu Albot (MDA,97)

[Rajiv]

And this is the way Sumit should be brave in experimenting with tournament play and not just restrict himself to a clay hole.

And however productive his(Sumit) wins from the ATP points accumulation point of view, but they appear pale and boring compared to the joy, Yuki,Prajnesh,Saki,Ram brought with their exploits.

[vparam]

Seriously, how did Mukund manage to pull this off? I really commend him for taking a chance by going to Canada where he is now assured as nearly as much prize money for losing in the first round as someone who wins a challenger. Not just Sumit, but why doesn’t anyone else in the world take this chance? For someone ranked as low as Mukund play in a Masters 1000 qualification event is truly remarkable.

[Dinesh]

6-2 7-5 loss (had 3 set points at 4-5 0-40 and couldn’t convert). $7,080 for the efforts!

[sameerph]

Mukund is playing in China Challenger and got into main draw.

At Zhangjiagang Challenger 75, China (Hard)

[R1] Mukund Sasikumar (IND,361) vs. (Q) Mikalai Haliak (BLR,567)

Haliak won M25 title a couple of weeks back in China.

[sameerph]

Mukund lost against qualifier.

At Zhangjiagang Challenger 75, China (Hard)

[R1] Mukund Sasikumar (IND,361) l. (Q) Mikalai Haliak (BLR,567) 36 57

[sameerph]

Mukund is playing in Egypt M25 this week and starts with a straight sets win.

At M25 Sharm ElSheikh, Egypt (Hard)

[R1] (4) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,407) d. (Q) Daniel Ibragimov (RUS,1958) 76(3) 75

Next,

[R2] (4) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,407) vs. Leonardo Rossi (ITA,757)

[Atithee]

That’s a poor score line in the first round. Does not bode well for the next round. Let’s see. If his results are poor in the next few tournaments, his tirade against non-selection for India duty will not find many sympathizers, regardless of how aggrieved he feels.

[sameerph]

Bad loss in second round.

At M25 Sharm ElSheikh, Egypt (Hard)

[R2] (4) Sasikumar Mukund (IND,407) l. Leonardo Rossi (ITA,757) 63 16 16