Sriram Reyes-Varela advance Nagal exits

New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI) Indian doubles duo of N Sriram Balaji and Miguel Reyes-Varela advanced to the Adelaide International pre-quarterfinals while Sumit Nagal fought hard before making an early exit at the Auckland ASB Classic on Monday.
    The Indo-Mexican pair of Balaji and Reyes-Varela staged a remarkable comeback to defeat Rohan Bopanna and his new Colombian partner Nicolas Barrientos 4-6, 6-2, 10-7.
    Bopanna, who ended his two-year partnership with Australia’s Matthew Ebden and paired up with Barrientos ahead of the Australian Open, had a stellar first-serve percentage.
    With an 81 first-serve percentage and winning 76 per cent of those points, their clinical service game made the difference.
    Despite losing the first set, Balaji and Reyes-Varela improved their game to dominate the second set, taking advantage of their opponents' faltering serve and return game.
    Their aggressive approach allowed them to break serve multiple times and level to take the match into the tiebreaker where they showed fine composure to prevail in one-hour and 15 minutes.
    The unseeded duo will face fourth seed Finnish-Briton pair of Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten in the last-16 of the ATP 250 meet.
    
     Nagal falters
    =========
    
     India's top singles player Nagal put up a spirited fight before falling to his USA rival Alex Michelsen 7-6 (8), 4-6, 2-6 in a gruelling two-hour, 40-minute battle.
    Nagal edged the first set in a tense tie-break but Michelsen's improved consistency and stronger service game in the subsequent sets proved too much for Nagal.
    Nagal fought valiantly, saving 70 per cent of break points and taking the first set with a gritty tie-break win.
    His return game remained competitive, winning 58 per cent of points on Michelsen’s second serve.
    However, Nagal struggled to maintain momentum, particularly on his second serve, where he managed just 33 per cent of points.
    Michelsen capitalised on these weaknesses, using his six aces and dominant first serve to advance into the pre-quarters.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)