Vardhan packs off Mukund in Mysuru Open tennis

Olympian and former Davis Cupper Vishnu Vardhan probably played his best tennis this week yet when he ousted fourth seed Sasi Kumar Mukund 6-3, 6-1 to enter the semi-finals of the Sobha ITF Mysuru Open here on Thursday.

Third seed Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan did well to come back from being a set down to get past No.5 Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash Jayaprakash 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Second seed Karunuday Singh had an easy passage as he breezed past the last foreigner standing in the draw, Taipe's Jui-Chen Hung 6-1, 6-3.

Hung seemed to have lost the will to battle it on court from the beginning and kept holding his sides, an action that suggested that all was not well with him. At one point he even served underhand.

Top seed Ramkumar Ramnathan was tested by seventh seed Vinayak Sharma Kaza in the second set after the players had held serve till 6-all. In the ensuing tie-breaker the Davis Cupper opened up a 3-0 lead only to see his rival level it.

He then brought all his experience and standard of play coming up with an awesome passing shot that left Kaza stunned. Unforced errors made it easier for the top seed.

Results (Prefix denotes seeding, Indians unless stated):

Men's singles (Quarter-finals): 3-Ranjeet Virali Murugesan bt 5-Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash 3-6, 6-1, 6-2; 8-Vishnu Vardhan bt 4-Sasi Kumar Mukund 6-3, 6-1; 2-Karunuday Singh bt 6-Jui Chen Hung 6-1, 6-3; 1-Ramkumar Ramnathan bt 7-Vinayak Sharma Kaza 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Doubles (Quarter-finals): Bhavesh Gour / Sidarth Rawat bt Jayesh Pungliya / Nitin Kumar Sinha 3-6, 6-4, 10-7. Semi-finals: Gour / Rawat bt Sasi Kumar Mukund / Jui-Chen Hung (Tpe) 6-4, 3-6, 10-7; 2-Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash / Vinayak Sharma Kaza bt 4-Chandril Sood / Lakshit Sood 6-4, 5-7, 10-8.