Sunil Kumar Sipaeya ...

[Varma]

What's going on with Sunil? He is not even featuring in domestic 10K futures. Did he decide to retire? Anyone knows?

- Varma

[raijanni]

sunil has been struggling with back injury for last year or so,it has got better but will still need time to get back in tournaments

[Rajiv]

thanks raijanni for the update, if you have access to him , wish him luck and tell him we all miss him and want to see him back soon on the circuit.

[raijanni]

sure rajiv,i will pass on ur wishes to him indeed.it will be good for indian tennis if he makes a successfull come back

[bujilover]

Pensacola Futures

Sunil starts his futures campaign after a long break from the circuit.

Had a neat win in qualifying rd 1.

QR1:
Sunil Kumar Sipaeya def Diallo Jones(TOG) 60 61

QR2:

SKS vs Ben Zink(USA)

Has a nice chance to win this match and get closer to main draw.

[bujilover]

QR2:

Sunil Kumar def Ben Zink(USA) 63 36 61

QR3:

Sunil vs 2-HOCHWALT, T (USA)

[PKBasu]

Useful match practice, although Ben Zink seems to be an unranked player. I presume Sunil has an injury-protected ranking, which he will use occasionally at more opportune moments.

[PKBasu]

[Q3] Sunil Kumar Sipaeya (IND, UNR) d. 2-HOCHWALT, T (USA, 709) 61 36 64

Very good win for Sunil, but he still has one more round of qualifying to go through. And sadly, he gets neither any points nor any money for his three wins so far, including this fine victory.

[Varma]

...but he still has one more round of qualifying to go through.

What do you mean, PKB? He already won 3 qualifying rounds. Do you mean this futures has 4 rounds of qualifying?

- Varma

[bujilover]

Final rd Qulaifying:

SIPAEYA , Sunil-Kumar (IND) vs OLJACA , Mark (USA)


Varma ,this is a 128 player draw so 4 rds.Also if he qualifies he wont get any ranking pts unless he gets one more in md.Crazy ATP schemes.

[Varma]

Thanks for the clarification, Bujilover.

That's gotta be really brutal for Sunil, who has had not much of match practice. Looks like his Q4 opponent - a 21 yr old unranked American, Mark Oljaca - is playing his first (singles) tournamet of the year. However, he had 2 straight set victories in the opening rounds and won a tight 3 setter against the 9th ranked player. After 2 straight 3 setters, Sunil hopefully has enough left in his tank to take care of this guy and do some more damage in the main draw. With most of the Indians doing very well lately, it's about time Sunil did justice to the abundant natural talent he always had. It will be nice to see him climb up the rankings and compete for the #2 position with Karan and Vishnu.

Good luck, Sunil!

- Varma

[Rajiv]

Its good to see SKS making a comeback and nothcing up wins albeit against unranked players.
But I cannot understaind why does he have this fix for playing touneys in tough US compitetion.
Even before his hiatus or injury break he was playing aimlessly on the US circuit making those long treks and in the process losing day in , day out when during the same period there were so many options or easier tournaments in Asia and Africa.So if he is serious about his comeback he should stop this USA fixation and try to his hand where the reletavely weaker compitiion which will not only help his rankings but the all important confidence as well.

[jayakris]

He has some support to do something in the US, but he doesn't really have the money to do much anywhere else - and India is not holding much of futures this year. That may sound strange/funny, but that is really the situation! .. He is coming off a pretty bad back injury for quite a long time, and I am not sure if it has gone away for sure. Let us see how things hold up.

Also, though it is a grind, US is one of the cheapest places to play now - believe it or not.

Jay

[jaydeep]

Really good win against top-800 player ... I really wish this time he remain healthy and deliver true justice to the talent he has.

[bujilover]

Sunil lost to OLJACA , Mark (USA) 63 62.

Surprisingly entered in doubles with Rupesh Roy and they are up against 4th seeds.