Sidharth Rawat Proves 'Wildcard' With Noguchi Upset, Nagal And Mukund Advance In Chennai Open

Last Updated:February 10, 2026, 21:47 IST

The 32-year-old Rawat registered a 6-3, 6-2 against fifth-seeded Noguchi to deliver a shock, while Nagal rallied from behind to beat Britain's Felix Gill 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Indian tennis stars Sumit Nagal and Mukund Sasikumar posted contrasting victories to progress to the second round of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger on Tuesday. But, the highlight of the day came when Indian wildcard Sidharth Rawat thrilled the home crowd by upsetting fifth seed Rio Noguchi in three sets.

The 32-year-old Rawat, ranked No. 715 in the world, bounced back after losing the first set 2-6 to win 6-3, 6-2 against Noguchi, who is ranked No. 246.

“Today’s match was an absolute rollercoaster with many breaks of serve and a lot of ups and downs," Rawat said after his victory. “I started a little slow in the first set, then took a short break, regrouped, and came back strong in the second. I was feeling powerful in my legs and that helped me a lot. I was just going with the flow and following my instincts without overthinking."

In the late evening match, former champion and India’s No. 1 Nagal, who was part of India’s Davis Cup win over the Netherlands in Bengaluru over the weekend, recovered from a slow start to beat Britain’s Felix Gill 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Earlier in the day, Mukund overcame an early break in the first set to defeat fellow Indian and close friend Nitin Kumar Sinha 7-5, 6-3.

Seventh seed Florent Bax of France also bowed out of the competition after being forced to retire in the third set of his first-round match against Denis Yevseyev. The Kazakh was leading 5-7, 6-4, 3-2 when Bax was unable to continue.

Second seed Federico Agustin Gomez, third seed Oliver Crawford, fourth seed Ilia Simakin, and sixth seed Frederico Ferreira Silva all advanced to the Round of 16 after defeating Indian players.

Digvijay Pratap Singh put up a strong fight before losing 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 to Crawford in a three-hour contest—the longest match of the day.

Top seed Jay Clarke will begin his singles campaign on Wednesday against Ioannis Xilas. Wednesday’s schedule will also feature second-round singles matches and the completion of the first-round doubles matches at the SDAT Tennis Stadium, Nungambakkam.

(With Inputs From Agencies)

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