Tennis: Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth win maiden ATP Tour doubles title together

Hyderabad: Indian tennis doubles players Jeevan Neduncheziyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth won their first ATP doubles title together when the duo triumphed in the Hangzhou Open in China on Tuesday.

Jeevan and Vijay came from behind to beat Germany’s Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens 4-6, 7-6(5), 10-7 in a marathon match lasting close to two hours.

The Indians showed excellent resilience and composure to clinch the second and the super tie break after losing the first set.

While the Hangzhou Open title is Jeevan’s second career ATP Tour title, it was Vijay’s maiden ATP Tour title. Jeevan won the Chennai Open in 2017 for his first ATP Tour title. Jeevan and Rohan Bopanna won the-then Chennai Open (now Maharashtra Open) in men’s doubles beating Divij Sharan and Purav Raja 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

At the presentation ceremony, Jeevan thanked his partner for the support and said the feeling of winning a title in their first year as doubles partners is surreal. “I would like to thank Hangzhou, and Vijay Sundar. This is our first year as a doubles pair and we have an ATP 250 title. It feels surreal,” he said.

Meanwhile, India’s Yuki Bhambri and his French partner Albano Olivetti finished runners-up at the Chengdu Open.

Seeded third in the Chengdu Open, the Indo-French pair lost to Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul of France in a pulsating three-setter.

The match, lasting almost 90 minutes, went the French pair’s way 6-4, 4-6, 10-4. The Indo-French duo have already won two ATP titles this year on clay courts but a third was not to come at the Chengdu Open.