Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
Bengaluru, May 24: India’s Adil Kalyanpur and Mukund Sasikumar delivered a memorable performance on home soil by winning the doubles crown at the SM Krishna Memorial Open 2026 on Saturday.
The unseeded Indian pair defeated Kazakhstan’s Petr Bar Biryukov and Grigoriy Lomakin 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-3 in a thrilling final at the KSLTA Tennis Stadium in Bengaluru, securing their first ATP Challenger doubles title both individually and as a partnership.
After narrowly losing the opening set in a tie-break, the Indian duo staged a strong comeback in the second set before dominating the deciding super tie-break to seal victory in front of the home crowd. The final lasted one hour and 37 minutes.
Kalyanpur and Mukund had earlier produced impressive upsets during their title run. In the quarter-finals, they defeated the fourth-seeded Japanese combination of Kokoro Isomura and Ryuki Matsuda 6-3, 7-6(4).
The Indian pair then overcame second seeds Charles Barry of Ireland and Joshua Charlton of Australia 6-4, 6-3 in straight sets to book their place in the championship match.
Meanwhile, another Indian duo featuring Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha and Saketh Myneni bowed out in the semi-finals after losing 6-3, 6-4 to Biryukov and Lomakin.
Apart from the doubles triumph, Mukund Sasikumar also impressed in the singles competition. The 29-year-old fought hard against Britain’s Alastair Gray in the quarter-finals before eventually going down 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) in a marathon contest lasting nearly two hours and 40 minutes.
In the singles final, Petr Bar Biryukov defeated Belarusian Ilya Ivashka 7-6(0), 4-6, 6-4 to lift the title.
Earlier in the semi-finals, Ilya Ivashka had beaten Britain’s third seed Hamish Stewart 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, while Petr Bar Biryukov edged past Alastair Gray 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in another closely fought encounter.
The SM Krishna Memorial Open 2026 marked the third ATP Challenger event hosted in Bengaluru this year, following the Bengaluru Open in January and the Karnataka Open held earlier this month.