Tennis tourney: Prashanth, Balaji in 2nd round of qualifiers

Vijay Sundar Prashanth and Sriram Balaji of India entered the singles second round qualifying at the KPIT MSLTA ATP Challenger tennis tournament here Saturday.

Prashanth survived three match-points to overcome Asian Junior Champion and compatriot Siddhant Banthia 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 in a match lasting 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Prashanth, who got married last week and is coming back to the circuit from a break, lost the first set and looked rusty before he got his bearing and clinchedthe second set to fore the decider.

Banthia, who won the Asian Junior title, looked in control, but some poor shot selection saw him lose his grip from a commanding 5-4 (40-15) position and go down to the experienced Prashanth.

Balaji, who made the event as an alternate, capitalised on his lucky entry into the event to set up a close 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-6(4) win over Luke Saville of Australia in 2 hours, 40 minutes to make it to the second round.

However, all other Indian players who got an entry to ...