US Open: Saketh Myneni to Face Jiri Vesely in Men's Singles Round 1
If Saketh Myneni manages to get past Jiri Vesely in Round 1, he is likely to face World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the 2nd round
Highlights
-
India's Saketh Myneni has qualified for the US Open singles main draw
-
Myneni will face Czceh Republic's Jiri Vesely in Round 1
-
He faces a possible showdown with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Round 2
Indian tennis player Saketh Myneni secured qualification to the singles main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, after beating Serbian Pedja Krstin 6-3, 6-0 in the final qualifying round on Friday.
Pedja went into the contest 1-0 up in Head-to-Head record with a win over the Indian in Turkey in May last year but proved to be no match for Myneni on the day. In the first set, Myneni broke Pedja thrice while the Serbian broke him once with the duration being 30 minutes. The second set finished in only 26 minutes as Myneni broke him thrice and wrapped up the match in style. It didn't help that Pedja had four double faults and could only hit two aces compared to Myneni's seven.
Myneni, who is India's highest ranked tennis player, has never previously played at an ATP Tour event. His first round opponent at US Open will be World No. 48 Jiri Vesely of Czech Republic.
If Myneni manages to get past Vesely, he is likely to face World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the 2nd round. The 28-year-old is India's only representative in the singles section at the US Open, across both genders.
Saketh, ranked 143rd in the ATP chart, lost in the third Qualifying round at the Australian Open and bowed out in the second round of the French Open earlier this year.
(With inputs from PTI)