Manas Dhamne Qualifies For Junior Wimbledon Championships

Young Manas Dhamne qualified for the boys singles main draw at the prestigious Wimbledon championships on Friday with a three-set win over 10th seed Atakan Karahan but Aryan Shah missed out with a second-round defeat. The 15-year-old Dhamne beat his opponent from Turkey 6-2, 6-7 (5), 10-8 in the second and final qualifying round. Dhamne, placed 78th in junior ITF ranking list, had two match points in the second set as he served for the match at 40-15 in the 10th game but the 69th ranked Karahan stretched it to the decider.

It will be a second junior Grand Slam appearance of the season for Dhamne, who had competed at the Australian Open where he had retired in the second round.

"It is a proud moment to represent my country at the Grand Slam. I don't play much on grass, I don't practice on grass. A week back I was playing on clay court in Morocco (on ATP Challenger circuit), so I had to adjust my game but I had got used to playing on grass," Dhamne told PTI.

"I could have finished the match when I was up 40-15 (in the second set) but I committed an unforced error and he hit a winner, then it became 5-5. He also played well but I became a bit tight, slow and passive," he said.

Dhamne, who trains at Piatti Tennis Centre in Italy, had impressed at the Tata Open Maharashtra early this year.

Playing against American Michael Mmoh he had lost 2-6, 4-6 but his craft was applauded by former Indian players.

"I have improved. Recently I played a guy who was 400 (sic). I feel I can definitely play with these players," he said.

He will open his campaign against Australian Hayden Jones, world number 47 and may run into top seed and world number two Juan Carlos Prado Angelo from Bolivia.

"I am playing the day after and I am just looking at my first round, not beyond that," the youngster, who is from The Bishops School in Pune, said.

Meanwhile, fourth seed Aryan Shah lost 3-6, 3-6 to 11th seed Italian Fabio De Michele to bow out.