Prakash stuns top seed at Aptos Challenger

New Delhi:

Stretching his red-hot form to another week, Indian Davis Cupper Prakash Amritraj pulled off an upset win over top seed Amer Delic to advance to the singles second round of the USD 75,000 ATP Challenger tournament in Aptos, USA.

Amritraj, who hit headlines after reached the finals of the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport in the previous week, toppled his American opponent, placed 60 rungs above him in ATP rankings, 6-4 4-6 6-3 in a gruelling opener, spanning over two days.

The 204 ranked Indian is now up against American wild card Phillip Sommonds, who beat Ceci Mamiit of Phillipines 6-3 7-5 in his first round match.

The Indian also stormed into the quarterfinals of the doubles event along with his American partner Lester Cook after easily defeating Artem Sitak and Roman Borvanov in straight sets.

The Indo-American duo beat Russian-American pair 6-3 6-1 in the first round match.

The winners next face Israeli pair Noam Okun and Amir Weintraub, who stunned Italian third seeds Alessandro Da Col and Andrea Stoppini 6-2 6-1 in their opening match.

Meanwhile, Indian challenge ended in the singles event of the Euro 30,000 ATP Challenger event in Manchester with the defeat of Purav Raja in straight sets.

Raja, who entered the event as a qualifier, lost 4-6 4-6 to second seed Pavel Snobel of Czech Republic in the first round.

Another Indian Davis Cupper Harsh Mankad had also crashed out of the event after losing his first round tie.

However, Raja entered the doubles quarterfinals along with Japanese partner Gouichi Motomura after defeating Italian pair of Massimo Dell'Acqua and Enrico Iannuzzi 6-1 6-4.

They next lock horns with top seeds Adam Feeney and Robert Smeets, who beat Chris Harfield and Jonathar Kinsella 6-1 6-0.

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