Wild Card Paparkar Shines on Opening Day of MSLTA $25K ITF Men’s Tournament

Mumbai, March 17, 2026: India’s Under-18 No. 1 player and local wild card, Arnav Paparkar, made the most of his opportunity by advancing to the second round of the men’s singles on the opening day of the MSLTA $25,000 ITF Men’s Tennis Tournament. The event is organized by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) and is being played at the Dr. G.A. Ranade Tennis Centre.

The 17-year-old from Pune was in dominant form, leading 6-2, 5-1 before his opponent, Grigoriy Lomakin, retired from the match.

Indian players delivered an impressive performance in the singles main draw. Seventh seed Sasikumar Mukund led the charge with a solid 7-5, 6-3 victory over Thailand’s James Van Herzeele. Ishaque Eqbal also progressed comfortably, defeating wildcard Raghav Jaisinghani 6-3, 6-2.

Another convincing performance came from Sidharth Rawat, who outplayed wildcard Caheer Warik 6-1, 6-2. In one of the closest matches of the day, Ukraine’s Yurii Dzhavakian edged past Brian Bozemoj in a marathon three-setter, winning 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4).

The doubles draw also saw strong performances from Indian pairs. Top seeds Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Ramkumar Ramanathan began their campaign in dominant fashion, defeating Kabir Hans and Maan Keshrwani 6-2, 6-3.

In a major upset, Mumbai’s Aditya Balsekar, partnering with Vishnu Vardhan, stunned second seeds Brian Bozemoj and Stijn Pel 6-3, 6-1. In another closely contested encounter, Chirag Duhan and Dev Javia upset third seeds Ishaque Eqbal and Grigoriy Lomakin 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-4.

Digvijay Pratap Singh and Jagmeet Singh staged a strong comeback to overcome the fourth-seeded pair of Florent Bax and Karan Singh 6-7(7), 6-2, 10-6.

Results – Main Draw

Singles (First Round):

Sasikumar Mukund (IND) [7] bt James Van Herzeele (THA) 7-5, 6-3

Ishaque Eqbal (IND) bt (WC) Raghav Jaisinghani (IND) 6-3, 6-2

Sidharth Rawat (IND) bt (WC) Caheer Warik (IND) 6-1, 6-2

(WC) Arnav Paparkar (IND) bt Grigoriy Lomakin (KAZ) 6-2, 5-1 (Retd.)

Yurii Dzhavakian (UKR) bt Brian Bozemoj (NED) 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4)

Doubles (First Round):

Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan / Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) [1] bt Kabir Hans / Maan Keshrwani (IND) 6-2, 6-3

Rohan Mehra / Sidharth Rawat (IND) bt A. Shanmugam / Manish Sureshkumar (IND) 6-3, 7-6(5)

Chirag Duhan / Dev Javia (IND) bt Ishaque Eqbal (IND) / Grigoriy Lomakin (KAZ) [3] 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-4

Digvijay Pratap Singh / Jagmeet Singh (IND) bt Florent Bax (FRA) / Karan Singh (IND) [4] 6-7(7), 6-2, 10-6

Aditya Balsekar / Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Brian Bozemoj / Stijn Pel (NED) [2] 6-3, 6-1