<p>Bengaluru: It was a day when the next Indian men’s tennis hopefuls impressed at the Bengaluru Open here. </p>.<p>Wildcard entrant Manas Dhamne and qualifier Karan Singh displayed power, speed and intent -- the ingredients required to survive the gruelling competitive tour -- but lack of finesse to close out the match did them in. </p>.Nicolas Mejia knock-outs Elmer Moller.<p>Firstly, it was Karan’s valiant effort that filled up the court 1 stands at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association. The Indian fed off every added pair of clapping hands to dictate the match against Austria’s Jurij Rodionov. </p>.<p>Just when it looked like the 21-year-old from Karnal would cross the finish line, Karan faltered and fell short to suffer a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3) defeat. It was a match that the 502-ranked Karan lost to gift the 219-ranked Rodionov a win. </p>.<p>The only Indian to qualify for the main draw, Karan was broken in the very first game of the contest to give Rodionov a heads up to clinch the set.</p>.<p>It was in the second set that Karan switched gears to take control. Matching his opponents’ tempo and outwitting Rodionov in tough points, he built interest and expectations among the spectators.</p>.<p>Looking more confident, the whistles and cheers seemed to have added an extra punch in Karan’s serve, extra pace in his groundstrokes and extra feet to outlast long rallies. Riding the wave, Karan took his chances and broke Rodionov in the 10th game to win the second and take the match to a decider. </p>.<p>With both players holding on to their serves throughout the third, the Indian still looked to have the upper hand in the tie-breaker. On the other side of the court, the Austrian kept his calm and stayed afloat by doing the basics right. In the end, this very trait of ‘hanging in there’ would turn out to be Rodionov’s saviour as Karan’s first serve faults and unforced errors at crucial junctions saw his surge come to an abrupt halt. </p>.<p>Later, there was little to differentiate between 17-year-old Manas, ranked 774, and his opponent - 22-year-old Petr Bar Biryukov, the World No. 395. </p>.<p>Manas, with quick legs running towards the ball and going for the lines, caught Biryukov off guard. However, the 6’5’’ Russian eventually brought out his height and superior power as his artillery’s to clinch a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3) victory. </p>.<p>Earlier, seasoned pro Ramkumar Ramanathan went down 7-6 (3), 7-5 to seventh-seeded Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan bringing the curtains down on Indian interest in the singles draw. </p>.<p>Results: Singles: First round (prefix denotes seedings): 3-Brandon Holt (USA) bt Valentin Vacherot (Mon) 6-4, 6-4; Hynek Barton (Cze) bt 1-Vit Kopriva (Cze) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; 2-Trisan Schoolkate (Aus) bt Khumoyun Sultanov (Uzb) 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3; James McCabe (Aus) bt 5-Kyrian Jacquet (Fra) 6-7 (8), 6-1, 6-2; Nicolas Alvarez Varona (Esp) bt Ugo Blanchet (Fra) 6-3, 4-2 (rtd); 7-Shintaro Mochizuki (Jpn) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan (Ind) 7-6 (3), 7-5; Jay Clark (GBR) bt Kasidit Samrej (Thi) 6-1, 6-0; Billy Harris (GBR) bt Enzo Coucaud 6-1, 1-0 (rtd); August Holmgren (Den) bt Enrico Dalla Valle (Ita) 6-4, 6-4; Jurij Rodionov (Aut) bt Karan Singh (Ind) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3); Bernard Tomic (Aus) bt Ilia Simakin 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4; Petr Bar Biryukov bt Manas Dhamne (Ind) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3).</p>
<p>Bengaluru: It was a day when the next Indian men’s tennis hopefuls impressed at the Bengaluru Open here. </p>.<p>Wildcard entrant Manas Dhamne and qualifier Karan Singh displayed power, speed and intent -- the ingredients required to survive the gruelling competitive tour -- but lack of finesse to close out the match did them in. </p>.Nicolas Mejia knock-outs Elmer Moller.<p>Firstly, it was Karan’s valiant effort that filled up the court 1 stands at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association. The Indian fed off every added pair of clapping hands to dictate the match against Austria’s Jurij Rodionov. </p>.<p>Just when it looked like the 21-year-old from Karnal would cross the finish line, Karan faltered and fell short to suffer a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3) defeat. It was a match that the 502-ranked Karan lost to gift the 219-ranked Rodionov a win. </p>.<p>The only Indian to qualify for the main draw, Karan was broken in the very first game of the contest to give Rodionov a heads up to clinch the set.</p>.<p>It was in the second set that Karan switched gears to take control. Matching his opponents’ tempo and outwitting Rodionov in tough points, he built interest and expectations among the spectators.</p>.<p>Looking more confident, the whistles and cheers seemed to have added an extra punch in Karan’s serve, extra pace in his groundstrokes and extra feet to outlast long rallies. Riding the wave, Karan took his chances and broke Rodionov in the 10th game to win the second and take the match to a decider. </p>.<p>With both players holding on to their serves throughout the third, the Indian still looked to have the upper hand in the tie-breaker. On the other side of the court, the Austrian kept his calm and stayed afloat by doing the basics right. In the end, this very trait of ‘hanging in there’ would turn out to be Rodionov’s saviour as Karan’s first serve faults and unforced errors at crucial junctions saw his surge come to an abrupt halt. </p>.<p>Later, there was little to differentiate between 17-year-old Manas, ranked 774, and his opponent - 22-year-old Petr Bar Biryukov, the World No. 395. </p>.<p>Manas, with quick legs running towards the ball and going for the lines, caught Biryukov off guard. However, the 6’5’’ Russian eventually brought out his height and superior power as his artillery’s to clinch a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3) victory. </p>.<p>Earlier, seasoned pro Ramkumar Ramanathan went down 7-6 (3), 7-5 to seventh-seeded Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan bringing the curtains down on Indian interest in the singles draw. </p>.<p>Results: Singles: First round (prefix denotes seedings): 3-Brandon Holt (USA) bt Valentin Vacherot (Mon) 6-4, 6-4; Hynek Barton (Cze) bt 1-Vit Kopriva (Cze) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; 2-Trisan Schoolkate (Aus) bt Khumoyun Sultanov (Uzb) 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3; James McCabe (Aus) bt 5-Kyrian Jacquet (Fra) 6-7 (8), 6-1, 6-2; Nicolas Alvarez Varona (Esp) bt Ugo Blanchet (Fra) 6-3, 4-2 (rtd); 7-Shintaro Mochizuki (Jpn) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan (Ind) 7-6 (3), 7-5; Jay Clark (GBR) bt Kasidit Samrej (Thi) 6-1, 6-0; Billy Harris (GBR) bt Enzo Coucaud 6-1, 1-0 (rtd); August Holmgren (Den) bt Enrico Dalla Valle (Ita) 6-4, 6-4; Jurij Rodionov (Aut) bt Karan Singh (Ind) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3); Bernard Tomic (Aus) bt Ilia Simakin 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4; Petr Bar Biryukov bt Manas Dhamne (Ind) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3).</p>