PUNE: Local favourite Arjun Kadhe stunned second seed Ramkumar Ramanathan for the biggest victory of his career while fast-emerging Sasi Kumar Mukund knocked out last week's runner-up Saketh Myneni at the KPIT-MSLTA Challenger here on Tuesday.
This is the best win for Kadhe in terms of beating a higher-ranked player as he sent packing world number 130 Ramkumar 6-3 6-2 in the opening round of the USD 50,000 hard court tournament.
Prior to Tuesday's win, the most significant win for the 370th-ranked Kadhe was against world no.200 Pedja Krstin.
It has been a tough season for Ramkumar and it ended with a whimper.
Kadhe who is playing his second season after returning from US Collegiate circuit, was fluent with his strokes, especially the deep returns.
Ramkumar served big but unforced errors did not help his cause.
Kadhe, to his credit, was well prepared for his opponent.
"I was on top of my game. I knew him from junior days and had practised with him during the Serbia tie. I knew I can beat any Indian player," said Kadhe.
The Pune lad said he took it as just a match while last year, he was very excited playing before home crowd.
He had made a first round exit in 2017.
"Today I served well. He was also serving well but key was to be patient and let him take charge on his serve. I was hitting the ball harder than what I was doing at the Nationals."
Kadhe said he has made a few adjustments to his game like taking the backhand ball early and consistently hitting his serve spots.
However, his coach Hemant Bendre was not very pleased.
"He did not hit the ball as hard as I would have liked. There was not enough speed but he served well. Maybe because Ramkumar also did not play a great match, Arjun could not raise his game," said Bendre.
Sasi Kumar Mukund, who has a stiff back, pulled off a big win over Myneni, beating his big-serving opponent 6-4 7-6(1) after saving a set point in the opening game.
While Myneni was fluent with his strokes, it was Mukund who stood out with his court coverage and sharp returns.
"It was a close match but I played well on crucial moments. I kept getting better. There is nothing special that I did. I have not been trying to blast the ball but try to keep the ball in wait for my chances. That's why I am having decent results, said 21-year-old Mukund.
He is now up against sixth seed Briton Jay Clarke.
Prajnesh Gunneswaran, the new number one player of the country, had a tough first round in which he prevailed 6-4 6-4 against Taipei's Tsung-Hua Yang.
It was a dogfight from the baseline with both the players hitting the ball clean and hard.
The left-handed Indian lost his serve early in the second set to fall behind 0-2 but broke back immediately.
He broke Yang one more time in the seventh game and served out the set in the 10th when Yang hit a forehand long.
It was yet another first-round defeat for Sumit Nagal, who went down fighting 5-7 2-6 against top seed Radu Albot.