by Chirag Duhan and Garrett Johns got the better of Kyle Gauci and fellow Australian Timothy Gray, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. Duhan and Johns will proceed into the quarter-finals to face the number one seeds. Several players are also into the main draw in the Singles’ tournament.
Duhan & Johns Earn Quarter-Final Spot
It was Chirag and Johns that got the match started on serve but on the back-foot as Gauci and Gray earned two break points. However, the Indian and American teammates clawed their way back to force a deuce before holding serve by taking the deciding point. They used the gained momentum to immediately break the Aussie duo’s serve in the next game to extend their lead to 2-0. It was one way traffic for the next three games with Duhan and Johns completely shutting out the opposition in two of them and cruising at 5-0.
Despite this, Gauci and Gray arrested their momentum by holding serve comfortably in the next game, before breaking Duhan and Johns’ serve for the first time in the match. They backed it up with another hold to come-back to 5-3. With the pressure to serve out the first set, Duhan and Johns were forced into a deciding point but secured it to arrest Gauci & Gray’s comeback and take the opening set 6-3.
Chirag Duhan and Garrett Johns then got off to a fast start in the second set, immediately breaking serve and backing it up with a hold. The two teams then held serve in both of the following games. The Aussie duo had a chance to break back in the next game which proved to be a tight one on Duhan & Johns’ serve. However, the Indian and American teammates retained their break by taking the deciding point after the Aussie duo forced a deuce, thus allowing Duhan and Johns to maintain a 4-2 lead.
From then on, neither side managed to get a sniff at break point, allowing the single initial break to determine the set in Duhan and Johns favour 6-4, and thus the game in straight sets.
Following their victory, Duhan and Johns will next face the number one seeds, Ilya Snitari and Kris van Wyk in the quarter-finals.
Singles Commitments
The players are also involved in the singles’ tournaments being held in Monastir. Although eliminated from the doubles’ tournament, Timothy Gray qualified into the main draw by beating Ahmed Mouhan, Benjamin Ferreira Wortsman and Aaron Gil Garcia in straight set matches. He has been drawn against Greek Alexander Skorilas in the main draw. Unfortunately, Kyle Gauci failed to get the better of Italian Leonardo Angeloni, who won the match 6-3, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Chirag Duhan will also still be contending the singles’ tournaments and has made it into the main draw, following victories against Felipe Salinas and Ilgiz Kamchibekov. Duhan’s opening fixture in the main draw will see him contend the Aussie Matthew Dellavadova.
Garrett Johns earned immediate entry into the main draw and has won his first round fixture against his compatriot Samir Banerjee over three sets, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. He awaits the result between Timothy Gray and Alexander Skorilas.
Lead Images (clockwise from top left): Kyle Gauci / Timothy Gray / Chirag Duhan / Garrett Johns
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