Bengaluru, March 31 (IANS) The main draw of the SM Krishna Memorial Open is set to kick off on Tuesday, bringing a week of electrifying tennis action to the city at the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium. With a strong lineup of players ready to compete, the ITF Men’s M25 event with prize money of USD 30,000 promises an exciting week of matches with doubles finals scheduled for April 5 and the singles final slated for the next day.
Among those competing is Digvijay Pratap Singh, who continues his return to the circuit after an 18-month hiatus due to an illness. Speaking about his comeback, he shared, “I’m making my comeback after a long setback with a kind of autoimmune disease. This is my fourth tournament after a one-and-a-half-year break, but I am feeling well, actually feeling the best I’ve felt in a while, especially at this place.”
Bengaluru holds a special significance for Digvijay, having been the city where he claimed his first Challenger title. “I have a lot of memories. My first Challenger win was in Bengaluru, and I would always participate; I would not miss a single tournament here,” he said. Praising the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association, the 24-year-old added, “For me, as a club, as a tournament, it’s the best city to organise a tournament in India.”
The tournament features a competitive field, with 19-year-old Aryan Shah entering on the back of a title-winning run at the ITF Men’s Tennis Tournament in Ahmedabad. Also in contention is Britain’s Jay Clarke, the runner-up from the same event, making for a thrilling contest.
Karnataka’s contingent includes the likes of Krish Tyagi, Prajwal Dev, Rishi Reddy, Adil Kalyanpur and Suraj Prabodh. Among the other players to watch out for are Britain’s Oliver Crawford, Australia’s Moerani Bouzige, Russia’s Bogdon Bobrov, Japan’s Ryotaro Taguchi, Karan Singh and Dev Javia.
Digvijay, who will face Siddharth Rawat on Tuesday, acknowledged the level of competition, stating, “I’m not concerned about someone specific who’s going to give me a fight because everyone is good at this tournament. But definitely, Aryan is there from India, Karan Singh is there, so it’s fun to watch these guys and see what they bring to the table. They even motivate you to play well.”
The doubles’ action will be headlined by top-seeded pair Adil Kalyanpur and Kody Pearson (AUS) facing off against Moerani Bouzige (AUS) and Ryuki Matsuda (JPN) while the Karnataka pair of Deepak Ananthramu and Preetam Ganesh take on Nick Chappel (USA) and Grigorly Nomakin (Kaz).
In the qualifying round held on the weekends, Mann Kesharwani, Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam, Kody Pearson (AUS), Nitin Kumar Sinha, Kabir Hans, Nikita Ianin, Raghav Jaisinghani and Karnataka’s Suraj Prabodh secured their spots in the main draw.
The prestigious tournament is a joint-initiative by KSLTA and the Karnataka State Government and has been conceptualised as a tribute to the visionary former Chief Minister of Karnataka SM Krishna who was an avid tennis enthusiast and spearheaded KSLTA as its president from 1999 to 2020. He was also the Life President of AITA from 2015 to 2023. Earlier in the week, the facility was renamed as the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium to recognise his patronage of the game.
–IANS
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