SM Krishna Memorial Open: Chirag Duhan advances to semifinal, SD Prajwal Dev-Nitin Kumar Sinha to fight for doubles title

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 4 (ANI): India's Chirag Duhan achieved a career milestone on Friday as the 21-year-old beat Ishaque Eqbal 6-2, 7-6 (1) to advance to the semifinals of the SM Krishna Memorial Open at the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium in Bengaluru.
In the last four, he faces a familiar opponent: top seed Jay Clarke. Chirag lost to Clarke in Ahmedabad last week and is eager to set the record straight.
"I played him last week and although the scoreline may not suggest it, it was a close game. More than his game, I will focus on my game (to beat him). My focus will remain on the things I can control, and we'll take it from there," he said.
This is the first time Chirag has advanced to the singles semifinals of an ITF M25 level tournament. He laid the gauntlet early into the clash as he broke Ishaque's first service game to claim the early lead and then broke again in the seventh game before closing out the set 6-2. The big-serving Indian rode the momentum into the second set as he once again broke Ishaque's serve in the second game as the latter tried to work his way back into the contest.
Chirag found the lines on the crucial points and set himself up well when he broke in the eighth game to lead 5-3, but Ishaque earned a break of his own as the players headed into a tie-break. Chirag was the aggressor from the get-go and raced away with the tie-breaker to reach the semifinals.
Chirag was the only Indian to progress to the singles semifinals as Karan Singh and Aryan Shah lost their quarterfinal clashes. Karan was up against Jay Clarke and put up a brilliant fight in the first set before losing in the tie-breaker. Clarke proved to be too strong for the Indian in the second set as he breezed to a 5-1 lead and then saved three breakpoints before earning his spot in the semifinals.
Aryan faced a steep challenge against second seed Oliver Crawford and the Englishman needed all of 69 minutes to clinch the win. Crawford will face Ryuki Matsuda for a spot in the final. The Japanese earned a 6-4, 7-6 (3) victory over Maxim Zhukov to reach his first semifinal of the year.
The Indian duo of SD Prajwal Dev and Nitin Kumar Sinha cruised into the finals of the men's doubles after outfoxing their compatriots Parikshit Somani and Manish Sureshkumar. Prajwal and Nitin won 6-0 in the first set before winning the second set on the tiebreaker
to advance into the final.
Prajwal and Nitin will lock horns with USA's Nick Chappell and Kazakhstan's Grigoriy Lomakin in the summit clash. Chappell and Lomakin beat fourth seeded pair of Aryan Shah (IND)/ Karan Singh (IND) 6-1, 6-0.
Late last evening, Parikshit Somani and Manish Sureshkumar stunned the doubles top seeds Adil Kalyanpur and Kody Pearson 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1) in the quarterfinals, while Nick Chappell and Grigoriy Lomakin notched up a thrilling 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 against second seeds
Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta and Vishnu Vardhan.
The fourth-seeded Indian duo of Aryan Shah and Karan Singh entered the semifinals after beating Alexandr Binda and Nikita Ianin 6-1, 6-2, while the last quarterfinal of the men's singles saw Ishaque Eqbal beat Raghav Jaisinghani 6-1, 6-1.
Results
Men Singles Quarterfinals
Ryuki Matsuda (JPN) bt Maxim Zhukov 6-4, 7-6 (3); Chirag Duhan (IND) bt Ishaque Eqbal (IND) 6-2, 7-6 (1); 1- Jay Clarke (GBR) bt 5-Karan Singh (IND) 7-6 (5), 6-1; 2-Oliver Crawford (GBR) bt 6-Aryan Shah (IND) 6-3, 6-0;
Men Doubles Semifinals
Nick Chappell (USA)/Grigoriy Lomakin (Kazakhstan) beat 4- Aryan Shah (India)/ Karan Singh (India) 6-1, 6-0; 3-SD Prajwal Dev (India)/ Nitin Kumar Sinha (India) beat Manish Sureshkumar (India)/ Parikshit Somani (India) 6-0, 7-6 (5)
Men Doubles Quarterfinals
Manish Sureshkumar (India)/ Parikshit Somani (India) beat 1-Adil Kalyanpur (India)/ Kody Pearson (Australia) 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1); 4- Aryan Shah (India)/ Karan Singh (India) beat Alexandr Binda (Italy)/ Nikita Ianin 6-1, 6-2; Nick Chappell (USA)/Grigoriy Lomakin (Kazakhstan) beat Sai Karthik Reddy Ganta (India)/ Vishnu Vardhan (India) 4-6, 6-4, [10-8]; 3-SD Prajwal Dev (India)/ Nitin Kumar Sinha (India) beat Digvijay Pratap Singh (India)/ Jagmeet Singh (India) 6-4, 7-6 (3). (ANI)