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.
It was also the end of the Indian challenge, as S. Mukund gave a walkover to Adam Walton of Australia owing to food poisoning which needed urgent medical attention.
The doubles champions of the last two events in Chennai and Bengaluru, Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan were beaten by the Aussie duo of Tristan Schoolkate and Walton in straight sets.
It was another bitter pill to swallow for the home fans, when top seeds Arjun Kadhe and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan failed to win a set in their semifinal against Dan Added and Yunseong Chung.
The results: Quarterfinals: Dane Sweeny (Aus) bt Niki Poonacha 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(3); Valentin Vacherot (Mon) bt Enzo Couacaud (Fra) 7-6(2), 6-4; Adam Walton (Aus) w/o S. Mukund; Duje Ajdukovic (Cro) bt Alexey Zakharov 6-4, 6-3.
Doubles: Semifinals: Dan Added (Fra) & Yunseong Chung (Kor) bt Arjun Kadhe & Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 6-3, 6-4; Tristan Schoolkate & Walton (Aus) bt Saketh Myneni & Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6(6), 6-2.
