Rethin Pranav sustained a strong game right through the match to beat doubles partner Moise Kouame of France 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 in the boys first round of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Monday.
Rethin, who had lost to Moise twice in the past, could have won the match in straight sets as he recovered from being down 1-4 in the second set to 5-4. But, he could not serve it out. However, Rethin was back to his fine all-round game in the decider to scotch the hopes of the French boy.
In the pre-quarterfinals, Rethin will play Makar Krivoshchkov.
Aarjun Pandit also scored a fighting 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3 victory over Lovro Maricic of Croatia. Wild card Shanker Heisnam got past Seo Hyeon Seok of Korea, while Vihaan Reddy knocked out sixth seed Iliyas Maratuly of Kazakhstan 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 with his smart game.
In the girls section, Maaya Rajeshwaran played a vibrant game but could not stretch it beyond the first set, as she was beaten 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3 by the champion of the last tournament Maria Golovina.
The results, first round:
Boys: Nikita Bilozertsev (Ukr) bt Jonas Kucera (Cze) 6-4, 6-3; Shanker Heisnam bt Seo Hyeon Seok 6-3, 6-4; Vihaan Reddy bt Iliyas Maratuly (Kaz) 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4; Rohan Belday (USA) bt Pratyaksh 6-1, 6-2; Aarjun Pandit bt Lovro Maricic (Cro) 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3; Makar Krivoshchekov bt Michael Jimenez (Sgp) 6-4, 6-1; Rethin Pranav bt Moise Kouame (Fra) 7-5, 5-7, 6-2; Duje Markovina (Cro) bt Egor Gorin 6-1, 6-2; Roman Kharlamov bt Debasis Sahoo 6-3, 6-0; Jaden Tan (Ina) bt Pham La Hoang Anh (Vie) 6-2, 6-2; Luc Wieland (Sui) bt Cho Se yuk (Kor) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5; Vojtech Vales (Cze) bt Arnav Paparkar 7-5, 6-3.
Girls: Lidia Podgorichani (Tha) bt Laxmisiri Dandu 6-3, 6-1; Jo-Leen Saw (Mas) bt Navy Dabas 6-1, 6-0; Aoi Watanabe (Jpn) bt Harshini Nagaraj 6-3, 6-3; Maayan Laron (Isr) bt Aishi Bisht 6-2, 6-0; Tzeng Mu-Jie (Tpe) bt Kira Bataikina 6-1, 6-3; Petra Konjikusic (Srb) bt Aakruti Sonkusare 6-1, 6-0; Polina Berezina bt Yu-Chen Lin (Tpe) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Daria Shadchneva bt Tejasvi Dabas 6-0, 7-6(2); Maria Golovina bt Maaya Rajeshwaran 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3.
