Sasikumar Mukund overcame an emotional rollercoaster to record a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Blaz Kavcic in the first round of the $162,000 Bengaluru Open ATP Tennis Challenger at the KSLTA Stadium on Monday.
Sasikumar struggled to keep his mind in check in the early stage of the match, and lost the first set in quick time. It looked like he was set to throw in the towel, until he began to relax and find his groove.
Feels like a gift
“Going into the match today, my head was all over the place. I was feeling disastrous. After losing the first set, I thought I would lose the match. I was getting ready to attend the press conference. Honestly speaking, I don’t deserve the win. This feels like a gift,” Sasikumar, the World No. 289, said.
“When you are playing at home, you get a huge high. And when the high wears off, you feel real low. The same thing happened in the Davis Cup last year too. The National anthem played and my adrenaline shot up. And then for the next three days, I couldn’t do anything,” the 23-year-old said.
He hopes to get his "head in the right place” to tackle the challenges ahead in the tournament.
Fellow Indian Saketh Myneni had an easier time, cruising past Russian Aslan Karatsev 6-3. 6-3. Myneni was happy with the result, as he is easing his way back from injury. The 32-year-old was not in peak physical condition — laboured in his movement on court — but it was enough to get the job done on the day.
The results (first round): Mukund Sasikumar bt Blaz Kavcic (Slo) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4; Malek Jaziri (Tun) bt Arjun Kadhe 6-2, 7-6(5); Saketh Myneni bt Aslan Karatsev (Rus) 6-3, 6-3; Laurent Lokoli (Fra) bt Adam Pavlasek (Cze) 6-3, 7-6(4); Vaclav Safranek (Cze) bt Fabrizio Ornago (Ita) 7-6(5), 7-5; Vladyslav Orlov (Ukr) bt Suraj Prabodh 6-2, 6-2; Khumoyun Sultanov (Uzb) bt Prajwal Dev 6-2, 6-1; Filippo Baldi (Ita) bt Evgeny Karlovskiy (Rus) 6-2, 7-5; Frederico Ferreira Silva (Por) bt Karim-Mohamed Maamoun (Egy) 6-1, 3-6, 6-0; Niki Poonacha bt Adil Kalyanpur 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(4).
