Wildcard Manas Dhamne Marches Into Maha Open Quarterfinals

Last Updated:February 25, 2026, 23:36 IST

Manas Dhamne reached the Maha Open ATP Challenger 75 quarterfinals after Ilya Ivashka retired.

Manas Dhamne (X)

Wildcard entrant and local hope Manas Dhamne powered into the men’s singles quarterfinals of the Maha Open ATP Challenger 75 on Wednesday, benefitting from a mid-match retirement by Belarus’ Ilya Ivashka.

Dhamne had taken the opening set 6-3 when Ivashka — a former top-50 player — was forced to retire due to injury, handing the Indian teenager a spot in the final eight. He will now face Croatia’s Duje Ajdukovic in Friday’s quarterfinal.

Ajdukovic booked his place with a commanding 6-2, 6-2 upset over fifth seed Frederico Ferreira Silva of Portugal, underlining his strong form in the top half of the draw.

Upsets and Comebacks

Britain’s Alastair Gray staged one of the matches of the day, rallying from a set down to shock third seed Ilia Simakin 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 in a gruelling two-hour, 50-minute battle.

Sixth seed Federico Cina was more clinical, brushing aside Japan’s Yuta Shimizu 6-1, 6-4 to secure his quarterfinal berth.

Doubles Drama

In doubles action, top seeds Siddhant Banthia (India) and Alexander Donski (Bulgaria) survived a tight opening set before pulling away to beat Luca Castelnuovo (Switzerland) and Uisung Park (Korea) 7-6(5), 6-2.

Indian wildcards Saketh Myneni and Digvijaypratap Singh impressed with a solid 6-3, 6-3 win over Japan’s Masamichi Imamura and Kokoro Isomura.

Jay Clarke (Great Britain) and Michael Geerts (Belgium) advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Takuya Kumasaka and Rio Noguchi.

Elsewhere, Ryuki Matsuda (Japan) and Ilia Simakin edged past Aryan Lakshmanan (India) and Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong (Malaysia) 7-6(3), 7-5 in a closely fought contest.

(with PTI inputs)

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