Maharashtra Open 2020: Jiri Vesely, Ricardas Berankis storm into men's singles semis with come-from-behind victories

Pune: Jiri Vesely and second seed Ricardas Berankis stormed into the single semi-finals of the ATP Tata Open Maharashtra after scoring come-from-behind victories on Friday.

Czech player Vesely eked out a sensational 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(11) victory over Ilya Ivashka of Belarus while Berankis of Lithuania recovered well after the first set setback to register 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 victory against Japan’s Yuichi Sugita in another hard-fought quarter-final.

“It was a very close match. I think I was definitely lucky. I felt he deserved it more than I do at the end of the match. We both were very nervous,” Vesely said after the match.

India’s only hope for the title, the in-form pair of Ramkumar Ramanathan and Purav Raja will face third seed Jonathan Erich and Andrei Vasilevski in the semi-finals on Saturday.

The duo entered last-four with a commanding 6-2, 6-1 win over Leander Paes and Matthew Ebden on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Andre Goransson and Christopher Rungkat overcame Romain Arneodo and Andre Begemann 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) in the first doubles semi-finals.