Lakshmanan, Balsekar and Eqbal to make ATP Challenger debuts after coming through qualifiers at Coromandel Chennai Open
~ Third seeded Indian duo SD Prajwal Dev and Nitin Kumar Sinha advance to doubles quarter-finals and also qualify for singles main draw ~
Chennai, February 9, 2026: Three Indian players will make their ATP Challenger Tour main draw debuts after coming through the final round of qualifying on Monday at the Coromandel Chennai Open ATP Challenger Men’s International Tennis Championship 2026, being held at the SDAT Tennis Stadium, Nungambakkam.
The most dramatic win of the day came from 20-year-old Aryan Lakshmanan, who saved two match points while trailing Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta 7-6, 5-4. The left-hander fired 13 aces and turned the match around to claim a 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 win in just under three hours.
23-year-old Aditya Vishal Balsekar, ranked World No. 1401, also came through a three-set battle against third seed Timofei Derepasko. In a match that saw 14 breaks of serve, Balsekar knocked out the World No. 675 Derepasko 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.
Another Indian to reach his maiden ATP Challenger main draw was 28-year-old Ishaque Eqbal, who advanced when Siddhant Banthia retired while trailing 7-5, 1-0. S.D. Prajwal Dev and Nitin Kumar Sinha made it five Indian qualifiers out of a possible six after beating their countrymen in straight sets. Dev registered a 6-1, 6-4 win over Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam, while Sinha advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Adil Kalyanpur.
Malaysia’s top-ranked player Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong was the only foreigner to come through the qualifying draw. The second seed in qualifying scored a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over India’s Raghav Jaisinghani.
In the only main draw singles match scheduled for Monday, Australia’s Philip Sekulic scored a 6-3, 7-6 win over Great Britain’s Alastair Gray to book his place in the Round of 16. It was the 22-year-old’s first win of the season after suffering opening-round losses in his previous three tournaments of 2026.
First-round doubles action also got underway, with third seeds Dev/Sinha registering a 7-6, 6-1 win over Petr Bar Biryukov / Ilia Simakin to move into the quarter-finals. Great Britain’s Jay Clarke, the top seed in singles, teamed up with India’s Mukund Sasikumarto score a 6-3, 6-4 win over Lakshmanan / Balsekar to also reach the last eight.
Clarke is followed by Argentina’s Federico Agustin Gomez, Great Britain’s Oliver Crawford, and Ilia Simakin in the singles seedings. Seven Indian players, including top-ranked Sumit Nagal, Karan Singh, and 18-year-old Manas Dhamne, are also in the main draw via direct entry or wild cards. Nagal arrives in Chennai after India’s thrilling Davis Cup win over the Netherlands in Bengaluru on Sunday, while Dhamne won an ITF title in Kuwait over the weekend.
Singles Main Draw First Round
Philip Sekulic (AUS) def. Alastair Gray (GBR) 6-3, 7-6
Doubles Main Draw First Round
Jay Clarke (GBR)/ Mukund Sasikumar (IND) def. [WC] Aryan Lakshmanan (IND)/ Aditya Vishal Balsekar 6-3, 6-4
[4] Luca Castelnuovo (SUI)/ Rio Noguchi (JPN) def. Alexandr Binda (ITA)/ Grigoriy Lomakin (KAZ) 6-2, 6-2
[3] S D Prajwal Dev (IND)/ Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND) def. Petr Bar Biryukov / Ilia Simakin 7-6, 6-1
Singles Qualifying Final Round
[1] S D Prajwal Dev (IND) vs [9] Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam (IND) 6-1, 6-4
[2] Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong (MAS) vs [11] Raghav Jaisinghani (IND) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
[12] Aditya Vishal Balsekar (IND) def. [3] Timofei Derepasko 7-5, 4-6, 6-1
[4] Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND) def. [10] Adil Kalyanpur (IND) 6-4, 6-2
[6] Ishaque Eqbal (IND) def. [7] Siddhant Banthia (IND) 7-5, 1-0 (retd.)
Aryan Lakshmanan (IND) def. [Alt] Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta (IND) 6-7, 7-6, 6-2
About theTournament
Coromandel International Limited is now the Title sponsor, G Square is an Associate Sponsor while Lancor Holdings is a co-sponsor. Apollo Hospital is the Medical Partner, The Park Hotels is the Hospitality partner while ACT Fibernet is the Fibernet Partner.
The main draw consists of 32 players – 21 direct acceptances, 2 Special exempts, 3 wild cards, 6 qualifiers. Qualifying consists of 24 players with 4 wild cards. The prize money for the event is USD 63,000/- (Rs.60 lakhs). Prize Money for Singles Winner is US Dollars 9,500 Indian rupees 8,64,500 .and will get 50 ranking points, while the Runner-Up will receive US Dollars 5,500 (Rs 5,00,500 and will get 25 ranking points. Double pair winners will receive US Dollars 2,980 (Rs 2,71,180 and Runners-Up USD 1,740 (Rs 1,58,340). The Chennai Open is the first of a series of ATP Challenger events to be held in India with events in Delhi and Pune to follow.
Entry for spectators to witness the matches is free. The playing sessions of the Main Draw will start on Monday the 9th of February from 10 AM onwards and continue under floodlights if required. The Doubles finals will be played on Saturday 14th February 2026 while the singles finals are slated for Sunday 15th February 2026. The tournament is looking forward to the participation of the sports and tennis fans from Chennai.
