Dane Sweeny of Australia saved two match points, bounced back from being down 2-5 in the decider, to beat Niki Poonacha 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) in the quarterfinals of the $133,250 Maha Open Challenger tennis at the Balewadi Stadium on Friday.
Constantly cheered by the fans, Poonacha, who had knocked out top seed Sumit Nagal in the earlier round, did everything right except the finishing act, in a gripping contest.
To his credit, the Aussie was a fighter to the core. He saved the two match points on his serve in the eighth game of the third set with incredible winners following tough rallies. He pushed Poonacha and the errors overtook the Indian in the end. Poonacha also saved two match points from 1-6 in the tie-break, but hit one long to bring the curtains down on his challenge.
