Bengaluru, May 24 (IANS). The pair of Adil Kalyanpur and Mukund Sasikumar won the doubles title at the SM Krishna Memorial Open 2026 in Bengaluru on Saturday. Adil-Mukund won their first doubles title as individual and ATP Challenger 50 tennis tournaments.
The unseeded Indian pair defeated Kazakhstan’s Petr Bar Biryukov and Grigory Lomakin 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-3 in the final and registered a resounding victory in the title match that lasted one hour and 37 minutes at the SM Krishna KSLTA Tennis Stadium. The Indian pair made a strong comeback after losing the first set in the tie-break. Kalyanpur and Mukund performed well in the second set and took the match to a super tie-breaker, where they dominated and won the title on home soil.
Earlier in the tournament, Kalyanpur and Mukund defeated fourth-seeded Japanese pair Kokoro Isomura and Ryuuki Matsuda 6-3, 7-6(4) to reach the semi-finals. At the same time, in the semi-finals, the second seeded pair got the ticket to the final by defeating Charles Barry of Ireland and Joshua Charlton of Australia in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
Meanwhile, India’s Niki Kalianda Pooncha and Saketh Myneni lost to Biryukov and Lomakin 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-finals. Mukund also performed well in singles at the SM Krishna Memorial Open. 29-year-old Mukund performed brilliantly against Great Britain’s Alastair Gray in the quarter-finals, but ultimately lost 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) in a match that lasted two hours and 40 minutes. In the singles final, Petr Bar Biryukov won the title by defeating Ilya Ivashka of Belarus 7-6(0), 4-6, 6-4.
Earlier on Friday, former top-50 player Ilya Ivashka showed composure under pressure and defeated Britain’s third seed Hamish Stewart 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in a thrilling semi-final, while fourth seed Petr Bar Biryukov defeated second seed Alastair Gray 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in another marathon match. The SM Krishna Memorial Open was the third Challenger tournament held in Bengaluru this year, after the Bengaluru Open in January and the Karnataka Open last week.
–IANS
SM/AS