New Delhi, April 29 (Inditop) Yuki Bhambri made short work of Davis Cupper Vishal Punna, 6-2, 6-2, to enter the quarter-finals of the $15,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament at the DLTA complex here Wednesday.
Punna, who had upset second seed Yuichi Ito in the first round, was nowhere his best.
Yuki was quick to get off the blocks breaking Punna straightaway and again in the seventh game to make sure of the first set.
The 16-year-old maintained his hold on the match by breaking Punna in the first and seventh game of the second set like he did in the first set. The temperamental Punna barely lasted an hour.
Yuki next plays Thai Peerakit Siributwong who shocked fifth seed Hiroki Moriya 6-3, 6-2.
In the other matches, Vivek Shokeen outlasted Divij Sharan 7-6(8), 4-6, 6-3. The two traded breaks in the 11th and the 12th game of the first set to force a tie-break which Shokeen dominated.
But Sharan came out on top of a tight situation by breaking Shokeen in the ninth game and then served out the second set.
A set all, Shokeen dropped his serve in the opening game of the decider but hauled himself back by breaking Sharan immediately.
He then broke Sharan in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead before clinching the set and match in the next game.
On the adjacent court, Vishnu Vardhan played with finesse to dispatch Belgian Alexandre Folie 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 while national champion Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan shocked fourth-seed Goran Tosic, 6-3, 6-4.
Top seed Raven Klassen also made the last eight stage with a 6-4, 6-4 win over last week’s semi-finalist Masato Hatanaka.
rounak