CHENNAI OPEN | Indian challenge in singles comes to a shuddering halt

The India No. 1 took the first set against Russian Petr Bar Biryukov and appeared on course for a routine win when he began to flounder. He let slip three break-points in the second set which allowed his opponent to stay afloat.

Once into the tie-break, the left-hander, ranked No. 305, used his big serve to good effect to push the match into the decider. Also, he raced to a 3-0 lead.

Sumit Nagal in action at the Chennai Open ATP Challenger in Chennai on Thursday, February 12, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
R. RAGU

Though Nagal fought back to level at three-all, Biryukov earned the decisive break in the eighth game and held serve to seal a 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 win in just over two hours.

Earlier, Rawat went down 2-6, 3-6 to Maks Kasnikowski.

In the doubles event, the Indo-Thai pairing of Niki Poonacha and Pruchya Isaro advanced to the last four with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Lohithaksha Bathrinath and Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam. They will face the all-Indian pairing of S.D. Prajwal Dev and Nitin Sinha for a spot in the final.

The results: Second round: Luca Castelnuovo (Sui) bt Oliver Crawford (GBr) 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(5); Ilia Simakin bt Philip Sekulic (Aus) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(1); Frederico Ferreira Silva (Por) bt Duje Ajdukovic (Cro) 6-3, 6-4; Petr Bar Biryukov (Rus) bt Sumit Nagal 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3; Maks Kasnikowski (Pol) bt Sidharth Rawat 6-2, 6-3; Ioannis Xilas (Gre) bt Eric Vanshelboim (Ukr) 6-3, 6-4.

Doubles: Quarterfinals: Pruchya Isaro (Tha) & Niki Poonacha bt Lohithaksha Bathrinath & Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam 6-4, 6-1; Jay Clarke (GBr) & Mukund Sasikumar bt Siddhant Banthia & Saketh Myneni 7-5, 6-4; S.D. Prajwal Dev & Nitin Kumar Sinha bt Ishaque Eqbal & Manish Sureshkumar 4-6, 6-2, [10-8]; Felix Gill & Alastair Gray (GBr) bt Luca Castelnuovo (Sui) & Rio Noguchi (Jpn) 7-6(2), 7-6(5).