Divij, Purav knocked out of ATP Challenger event in Mexico
The Croatia pair, which had shocked the top seeds earlier, fired as many as 10 aces while the Indian players could manage four.
Divij Sharan and Purav Raja's campaign ended at the Guadalajara ATP Challenger event in Mexico with a straight set semifinal defeat at the hands of giant-killing pair of Marin Draganja and Mate Pavic.
The Indians fought hard before losing 6-7(2) 4-6 to the Croatian team in the close contest of the USD 1,00,00 hard court event.
The Indians split USD 2,160 as prize money and earned 35 ranking points each, which will be good enough to bring Divij back in the top-100 bracket.
The left-handed Divij is currently ranked 102.
The Croatia pair, which had shocked the top seeds earlier, fired as many as 10 aces while the Indian players could manage four.
The only time Indians came closing to breaking the rivals was in the third game of the second set but the Croats escaped with an ace.
In the next game, Indians were broken and that lead stayed with their rivals, who easily held to clinch the issue.
Divij and Purav play their last tournament in Mexico at Mexico City next week.