Manas Dhamne bows out in opening round

The Indian interest in the men’s singles event of the Maha Open 2025 tennis tournament, also known as Pune Challenger 2025, ended early as wildcards Manas Dhamne and Aryan Shah crashed out in the first round on Tuesday.

Local lad Manas Dhamne, just 17, stretched Billy Harris of Great Britain, the top seed and world No. 110, before succumbing 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 42 minutes.

Dhamne started well with a break and led 2-0 in the first set but Harris proved a tough nut to crack, breaking the Indian twice in the first set and once in the second set to make it to the second round.

The Indian tennis player punched well above his weight in the contest but lacked the experience to take advantage of his home court against the top seed Harris.

Aryan Shah gave it his best but could not make an impact against American sixth-seed Brandon Holt, ranked 153rd in the world tennis rankings.

Holt played some solid tennis from the baseline to register a 6-2, 6-2 win against Aryan Shah in an hour and 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, Khumoyun Sultanov of Uzbekistan, 229th in the ATP world rankings, carved out the biggest upset of the day by ousting third seed Tristan Schoolkate of Australia 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in a match lasting one hour and 49 minutes.

Sultanov, who won a few Future events in India last year, played solid tennis from the baseline to hassle the world No. 129 Schoolkate, forcing him into errors in the third set.

Another unseeded player Jurij Rodionov of Austria lost the first set despite firing eight aces. However, he managed to take the next two sets to score a comeback win against 168th-ranked and 21-year-old seventh-seed Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan.

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