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India’s Prakash Amritraj created a huge upset when he stunned second seed Amir Weintraub of Israel in three sets 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to romp into the singles quarterfinals of the US$50,000 ATP Karshi Challenger hard court tennis tournament being played at Qarshi, Uzbekistan.
The 370th ranked Indian – the son of former Indian tennis great Vijay Amriitraj – made a mockery of the yawning gap in rankings, toppling the number two seed to secure his passage to the last-eight stage.
Prakash served well and covered the court nicely to make a big impression against the 185th ranked Weintraub. The Israeli dropped his serve for which he paid a big price as the Indian pocketed the first set 6-4.
Both players fought tooth and nail in the second game. Games went with serve for most part before Weintraub pulled off the crucial break of serve to bag the second set at 7-5 to push the contest into a decider.
Surprisingly, the Israeli failed to lift his game in the third set even as Prakash was looking rock-solid with his serves and returns. The Indian breached Weintraub’s serve when it mattered to pave the way for a facile 6-2 third set victory and a berth in the quarterfinals.
The win ensures Prakash maintains his stranglehold over Weintraub in head-to-head meetings. This was Prakash’s third victory over the Israeli.
The Indian has earlier beaten Weintraub in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the 2008 China F2 tournament and later in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round of the 2010 Rimouski Challenger.
Earlier, Prakash rallied from a set down to vanquish France’s Antoine Benneteau 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
This is the seventh edition of the US$50,000 ATP Karshi Challenger hard court tennis tournament, which first started in 2007.
This is Prakash’s best singles performance in 2013. Earlier, he crashed out in the first round of the ATP Johannesburg Challenger, losing to Croatia’s 361st ranked Mate Pavic in three sets 7-6, 4-6, 4-6.
His earlier best performances have been second round appearances in the ATP Chennai Open and Le Gosier tournaments.
The Indian earlier this year has appeared in the Rimouski Challenger, Guadalajara Challenger, Mexico City Challenher and San Jose tournament – he failed to make it to the main draw of these tournaments bowing out in the qualifying rounds.
He, however, did manage to enter the main draw of the USA F7 hard court tournament but came a cropper in the opening round.
