Ramkumar-Myneni a win away from doubles title

Chennai: Defending champions Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni entered the doubles final of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger with a hard-fought win over top seeds Ray Ho and Matthew Christopher Romios here on Friday.

The third-seeded Indian pair registered a 7-6(5) 7-6(8) victory over their rivals from Taipei and Australia.

They will face the unseeded Japanese duo of Shintaro Mochizuki and Kaito Uesugi, a 4-6 6-4 10-6 winners over second-seeded Indians Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth, for the title.

Earlier, Ramkumar and Saketh saved a set point in the second set tiebreak before emerging winners on their third match point.

In the singles, top seed Billy Harris of Britain advanced to the last-four with a 6-3 7-6(6) win over Kazakhstan’s Timofey Skatov. The Kazakh player put up a brave fight in the second set, saving match points in the 10th and 12th games and even held a set point before Harris came through. Harris will meet Sweden’s Elias Ymer

on Saturday.