ITF Tennis - Indians advance to second round

At the $10K ITF Futures event in Bhiaram, Vivek Shokeen and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan were among the first round winners.

Shokeen beat fellow wild card Suresh Krishna 7-6, 6-3 while Jeevan, seeded 8th, beat qualifier Mark-Alexander Kepler 6-2, 7-5. However, Vijay Sundar Prashanth was knocked out by Mathieu Vierin in three sets.

Second seed Vijayant Malik and third seed Karan Rastogi will play their first matches on Tuesday.

At the $10K ITF Futures women’s event in Aurangabad, three Indian women reached the second round.

Qualifier Adnya Naik beat fellow Indian Vaniya Dangwal in three sets, Kyra Shroff beat Sharmanda Balu in straight sets while Shweta Rana beat Nathalia Khaniejo for the loss of only two games.

Eighth seeded Prerna Bhambri, the highest ranked Indian in the world after Sania Mirza, was knocked out in her first match, losing 6-4, 6-2 to Sarah-Rebecca Sekulic,