TENNIS – TOP seed Marton Fucsovics of Hungary beat Tunisian Aziz Dougaz 6-2, 6-3 yesterday to advance to the quarter-finals of the Bahrain Ministry of Interior Tennis Challenger.
Intense play was held in the round-of-16 matches at the Public Security Officers Club courts.
The world’s best players aspired to book qualification tickets to the round of eight, with the matches full of excitement and suspense, and an outstanding audience presence raising the enthusiasm.
Fucsovics moved on to play Norwegian Viktor Durasovic, who outperformed his compatriot Nikolay Budkov-Kjaer 7-6 (5), 6-2 in a match that witnessed decisive moments.
In a match marked by unpredictability, Croatian seventh seed Duje Ajdukovic defeated Romanian Filip Cristian Jianu 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 after a strong comeback in the third set.
French eighth seed Terence Atmane continued his brilliance by defeating Hong Kong player Coleman Wong 6-1, 6-4 in a match that witnessed precise control from Atmane.
In an exciting match that the audience enjoyed, Canadian Alexis Galarneau defeated Russian qualifier Ilia Simakin 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, while Russian qualifier Marat Sharipov outperformed Dutch third seed Jasper De Jong with a steady and firm performance in a 6-3, 6-4 triumph.
The most exciting match was between Americans Brandon Holt and Briton Daniel Evans. The two played a long contest that lasted over three hours, ending with Holt winning 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in a breathtaking affair until the last moment.
The round of 16 matches concluded with the loss of the previous edition’s champion, fourth seed Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan, to Italian wild card Andrea Vavassori with a score of 6-1, 3-6, 2-6.
In the doubles category, the Indian duo of Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth continued their brilliance with a deserved victory over the duo of Colin Sinclair from Northern Mariana Islands and Indian Saketh Myneni 6-4, 7-6. They booked their sets in the quarter-finals.
The tandem of Russian Ivan Liutarevich and French Luca Sanchez also made it through after defeating Indian Anirudh Chandrasekar and Chinese player Ray Ho with a score of 7-6, 6-3.
Romanian Victor Cornea and the Spaniard Sergio Marto Gurnes achieved a significant victory over Bahraini Yusuf Qaed and French talent Benoit Paire 6-2, 7-6 after a strong performance, especially in the second set.
In another match, the Norwegian duo of Durasovic and Kjaer managed to overcome the pairing of Bulgarian Adrian Andreev and Jianu with a score of 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 after an exciting match that extended to a deciding set.
The tournament will continue today with the quarter-final matches, where the best players will meet in anticipated confrontations that will witness high skills to reach the semi-finals.
The Bahrain MOI Tennis Challenger 2025 is part of this year’s ATP Challenger Tour calendar, under the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The ATP Challenger Tour is the second-highest tier of international tennis competitions, behind only the ATP Tour.
The kingdom’s event is organised by the Public Security Sports Association, and it offers a cool $200,000 in prize money.
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