Pune (Maharashtra) [India], February 23 : Dalibor Svrcina of Czech Republic won the singles title at the Maha Open ATP Challenger 100 Men's Tennis Championship organized by Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) in association with the Department of Sports and Youth Services Govt of Maharashtra, PCMC, PMC and PMDTA at the Mhalunge Balewadi Tennis Stadium.
It has been a consistent run in the three Challengers in India for the 22-year-old Dalibor, who had made the semifinals in Chennai and the second round in Delhi previously.
In the third event in India in Pune, Dalibor Svrcina upset sixth seed, Brandon Holt of the USA, winning 7-6 (3), 6-1 in a match that lasted 1 hour 29 minutes, a release said.
After a neck-and-neck first set, Dalibor grew in confidence and struck winners with consistency, making no mistakes as he wrapped up the second set easily, breaking Holt's fantastic run in the event.
The winner Dalibor Svrcina received 100 ATP ranking points and USD 22,730 (Rs.19.90 lakhs), while the runner-up Brandon Holt got 60 ATP points and USD 13,350 (Rs.11.70 lakhs).
The prizes were given away at the hands of Rahul Mahiwal (IAS) of PMRDA and Sunder Iyer, Secretary of MSLTA. ATP Supervisor Andrei Kornilov of Uzbekistan, Rajeev Desai, and Sheetal Bhonsale, Jt Secretaries of MSLTA were also present on the occasion.
Meanwhile, top seeds Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth of India registered a 3-6, 6-3, 10-0 win over the second-seeded Australian pair of Blake Bayldon and Matthew Christopher Romios to emerge as the doubles champions at the Maha Open.
It was the first title together for Jeevan and Prashanth, and whilst it was the third title for Prashanth in Pune, the win today for the Indian team fetched them prize money of Rs 7 Lakhs and 100 ATP points, which pushed Jeevan to 94 Prashanth to 104 in the world rankings, respectively.
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