Evgeny Karlovskiy posted an upset victory yesterday to join five other players in securing a spot in the men’s singles main draw of the Bahrain Ministry of Interior (MOI) Tennis Challenger 2025.
Tenth-seeded Karlovskiy beat third seed Jelle Sels of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-3 to make it into the tournament proper at the Public Security Officers Club in Gudaibiya.
He secured one of six available berths in the men’s singles competition, with the others claimed by qualifying’s top seed Marat Sharipov of Russia, second seed Ilia Simakin, also of Russia, fourth seed Dimitar Kuzmanov of Bulgaria, ninth seed Petr Bar Biryukov of Russia, and unseeded Aleksandre Bakshi of Georgia.
Sharipov defeated alternate Colin Sinclair of the Northern Mariana Islands 7-6 (1), 6-4; while Simakin was a 6-4, 6-3 victor over Vitaliy Sachko of Ukraine. Kuzmanov outclassed Fares Zakaria of Egypt 6-3, 6-0; while Biryukov battled past Italian wild card Alberto Bronzetti 6-7, 7-6 (4).
Bakshi completed the list of qualifiers with a hard-earned 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-4 triumph against the qualifiers’ 12th seed Lucas Gerch of Germany.
With the roster of participants in the men’s singles completed yesterday, action in the round of 32 also got underway in the pairings already set.
Seventh seed Duje Ajdukovic of Croatia punched his ticket into the main draw’s last 16 with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) win against Constant Lestienne of France in a gruelling contest that went over two-and-a-half hours.
Eighth seed Terence Atmane, also of France, won against Chinese alternate Fajing Sun 6-3, 6-2; while American Brandon Holt upset second seed Pavel Kotov of Russia 7-5, 6-4.
The Bahrain MOI Tennis Challenger 2025 is part of this year’s ATP Challenger Tour calendar, under the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The ATP Challenger Tour is the second-highest tier of international tennis competitions, behind only the ATP Tour.
The kingdom’s event, being held for a fourth time, is organised by the Public Security Sports Association. It offers a cool $200,000 in prize money, and it has attracted a host of prominent tennis players from all over the world.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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