Ishaque Eqbal knocks out Karan Singh
Ishaque Eqbal survived six match points to beat second seed Karan Singh 6-7(4), 7-6(8), 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex on Friday.
In a battle of wits that lasted three hours, Karan served 14 aces. However, it was Ishaque’s serving prowess that passed scrutiny as he wriggled out of the clutches of defeat while facing three match points at 0-40 in the tenth game of the second set.
Eqbal, who fired 11 aces himself, saved three more match points in the second set tie-break.
In the decider, Ishaque broke Karan’s serve decisively in the fourth game and held on to the advantage. While Ishaquel converted two of nine break points, Karan managed to win only one of seven break points.
In the semifinals, Ishaque will play third seed Woobin Shin of Korea.
Nitin Kumar Sinha went down fighting to Stefan Vujic of Australia in another battle of attrition in three hours and 43 minutes. The Aussie will play top seed Jay Clarke in the semifinals.
The results: Singles (quarterfinals): Jay Clarke (GBR) bt Madhwin Kamath 7-5, 4-1 (retired); Stefan Vujic (Aus) bt Nitin Kumar Sinha 7-6(11), 6-7(2), 6-2; Woobin Shin (Kor) bt Manish Sureshkumar 7-5, 7-6(1); Ishaque Eqbal bt Karan Singh 6-7(4), 7-6(8), 6-3.
Doubles (semifinals): Filiberto Fumagalli (Ita) & Aryan Lakshmanan bt Sai Karteek Reddy & Vishnu Vardhan 7-6(5), 0-6, [10-8]; Prajwal Dev & Nitin Kumar Sinha bt Chirag Duhan & Dev Javia 6-0, 4-1 (retired).
Published – March 14, 2025 06:35 pm IST
