PUNE, February 6, 2020

Fourth-seeded Soonwoo Kwon stormed into the quarterfinals of the third edition of the Tata Open Maharashtra with a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win against India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran at Mhalunge Balewadi Stadium in Pune on Thursday.

Despite losing the first set, the Indian No. 1 put a brilliant show in attempt to comeback which saw the second set going into decider. However, World No. 88 Kwon held his nerves in the tie-breaker to score crucial points and wrapped up the match after one hour and 43 minutes.

Gunneswaran, who entered the South Asia’s only ATP Tour tournament, which is organised by Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) in association with Government of Maharashtra, with a direct entry in the main draw, denied his opponent match points on a couple of occasions. With Gunneswaran’s loss in the round of 16, India’s challenge came to an end in the singles.

Kwon will next take on No. 8 seed Egor Gerasimov of Belarus, who fought past Serbian qualifier Nikola Milojevic 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. The encounter lasted one hour and 46 minutes.

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER!🙌

📹 Roberto Marcora continues his dream run at #TOM2020 🎾 #AdvantagePune #ATPTour #TataOpenMaharashtra pic.twitter.com/AigB3C3RKx

— Tata Open Maharashtra (@MaharashtraOpen) February 6, 2020

Later in the day, World No. 174 Roberto Marcora of Italy stunned top-seed and World No. 19 Benoit Paire from France with a dominating 6-4, 6-4 win. Marcora, who secured his first match win on the ATP Tour in the previous round against Czech veteran Lukas Rosol, capitalized on three of his four break point chances to advance after one hour and 17 minutes. The 30-year-old will next challenge No. 6 seed James Duckworth in the stage of the final eight. The Australian battled past Taro Daniel of Japan 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-3 in almost three hours of play.