Sasikumar Mukund marches into semi-final in Italy

 CHANDIGARH, JAN 7   

Qualifier  Sasikumar Mukund of India advanced in the singles semi-final after beating  qualifier Elliot  Benchetrit of Morocco 6-3 7-6 (5) in  quarter-final in one hour and 49 minutes in the € 32, 160  ATP Challenger Tennis in Italy.
 Mukund won 29 points out of 36 on his first serve and 19 out of 34 on second serve.He served seven aces and made one double fault. Elliot served five aces and committed four double faults. He won 36 points out of 50 on his first serve and 16 points out of 38 on second serve.
In the first set Mukund got the vital break in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead and retained his service in the ninth game to win the set at  6-3.
Sasikumar  Mukund won the tiebreaker in the second set after losing the breakpoint opportunity in the ninth game 7-6 (5).
Mukund next faces Zsombor Piros  of  Hungary who upset top seed-Jay Clarke (Great Britain) 6-3 6-3.
SHARAN/RUNGAT LOSE IN DOUBLES SEMI:  Second Swiss seeds Marc-Andrea Huesler/Dominic Stricker defeated second seeds Divij Sharan of India and Christopher Rungat of Indonesia  6-4, 6-4 in doubles semi-final in the $ 58,320 Traralgon International Challenger in  Australia.
Trailing by a set, in the fourth game of the second set Christopher Rungkat /Sharan  broke the serve of M. Huesler to take a  3-1 lead.  They increased the lead to 4-1. However in the seventh game  Huesler/  Stricker break the serve of Divij Sharan. C. Rungkat/D. Sharan lead 4-3. Thereafter Huesler/  Stricker went on to wrap up the match  by winning the set at 6-4.
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