Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger 2025: Indian challenge ends in opening round

The hopes of a feel good story in Indian men’s singles tennis were extinguished on Tuesday at the Bengaluru Open as Ramkumar Ramanathan, Karan Singh and Manas Dhamne all lost their first-round matches at the KSLTA courts.

The defeats meant that only one Indian player – Mukund Sasikumar – out of the six who competed in the singles main draws across four ATP Challengers in Chennai, Delhi, Pune and Bengaluru this month won a match. The collective win-loss record was a lowly 1-12.

Karan Singh, 21, and teenager Manas Dhamne tried their utmost to dispel the gloom but fell over three agonising sets.

Karan impressed with his first-strike tennis and matched Austria’s Jurij Rodionov shot-for-shot. But from being 3-2 up in the deciding-set tiebreak, he lost five straight points to bow out 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(3).

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Dhamne, who relies more on court-craft than brute power, played admirably against the burly qualifier Petr Bar Biryukov. Despite the match appearing to rest on Biryukov’s racquet – the Russian was taller by over three inches and better by 379 ranking-places – the 17-year-old Indian, ranked 774, charmed the crowd with some fine stroke-making and spirited defence.

He also displayed nerves of steel, holding serve at 4-5 and 5-6 in the third set to stay in the contest. But Biryukov’s murderous serve – he served 14 aces to his opponent’s zero – ultimately proved the difference in the tie-break as Dhamne, under pressure, double-faulted on match-point.

Also, on the day, former World No. 17 from Australian Bernard Tomic, combustible even on the best of days, held it together to beat Russia’s Ilia Simakin 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4. There was also a defeat for top-seed Vit Kopriva, beaten by his Czech compatriot Hynek Barton 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.