Ramaswamy, Bopanna cause upsets

Wild card Ajay Ramaswamy and unseeded Rohan Bopanna caused major upsets to reach the men's singles quarter-finals of the $10,000 ITF Futures tennis tournament in Bombay on Wednesday.

Top seed Eyal Erlich of Israel had an easy passage, beating qualifier and compatriot Raviv Volkovizky 7-5, 6-1 while lucky loser Tomas Janda of the Czech Republic defeated Shivang Mishra 6-3, 6-3.

Third seed Jerzy Jurek Stasiak of Austria too had no problems while beating Kedar Tembe 6-2, 6-2 on way to the quarters.

Ramaswamy, playing the serve and volley game to perfection, pipped fourth seed and compatriot Manoj Mahadevan 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 in two hours and 15 minutes while Bopanna ousted fifth seed Harel Srugo of Isreal 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 45 minutes.

Bopanna passed his rival with ease on either flank and manged to win points with his kicking serves.

Qualifier Saurav Panja, who had accounted for second seed and former Davis Cupper Nitin Kirtane on Tuesday, rallied magnificently, after dropping the first set tie-break, to sideline wild card Vijayendra Laad 6-7 (8/10), 6-1, 6-2 while another former Davis Cupper Prahlad Srinath beat American qualifier Billy Wilkinson 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on way to the last eight stage.

Former national champion Sunil Kumar Sipaeya too was very impressive in his 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 win over unseeded Meir Deri of Isreal.