Ivashka to face Biryukov in SM Krishna Memorial Open final
BENGALURU, May 22: Seasoned Ilya Ivashka of Belarus remained composed under pressure to overcome Britain’s third seed Hamish Stewart to enter the men’s singles final of the SM Krishna Memorial Open here on Friday. Ivashka won 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in a gripping semifinal to set up a summit clash with fourth seed Petr Biryukov, who outlasted second seed Alastair Gray 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the other last four match. Meanwhile, Indian interest remained alive in the doubles as Adil Kalyanpur and Mukund Sasikumar continued their impressive run, defeating second seeds Charles Barry of Ireland and Joshua Charlton of Australia 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the final. The other Indian pair of Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha and Saketh Myneni, who had won the Karnataka Open doubles title last week, went down tamely to Biryukov and Grigoriy Lomakin of Kazakhstan 3-6, 4-6. (PTI)