Pune, Feb 18 : Indian interest in the singles section fizzled out as wildcards and young Indian players Manas Dhamne and Aryan Shah went down in the opening round of the MahaOpen ATP Challenger 100 Men's Tennis Championship here on Tuesday. Meanwhile, unseeded Khumoyun Sultanov of Uzbekistan and Jurij Rodionov of Austria pulled off upsets against seeded players in the first round.

The event is being organised by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) in association with the Department of Sports and Youth Services Govt of Maharashtra at the Balewadi Sports Complex here.

The 19-year-old Aryan Shah, who was awarded a main draw wildcard gave it his best but could not make an impact against sixth-seeded and 153-ranked Brandon Holt of the USA. Holt is the son of the legendary US tennis star of yesteryears. Tracy Austin played some solid tennis from the baseline to register a 6-2, 6-2 win against Aryan Shah in 1 hour and 12 minutes.

In a close match lasting 1 hour 42 minutes, top-seeded and 110-ranked Billy Harris of Great Britain quelled the challenge of 17-year local lad Manas Dhamne, winning 6-4, 6-4. Dhamne started well with a break and led 2-0 in the first set but Harris proved a tough nut to crack, breaking the Indian twice in the first set and once in the second set to make it to the second round.

Manas played above his age category but lacked the experience to take advantage of his home courts against the top seed Harris, who has been having a good run on the Indian swing.

The 229-ranked, 26-year-old resident of Tashkent, Khumoyun Sultanov carved out the biggest upset of the day ousting third seed and finalist of the last year's edition Tristan Schoolkate of Australia 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in a match lasting 1 hour and 49 minutes.

Sultanov, who won a few Futures events in India in the last year played solidly from the baseline to hassle the world no 129, Shcoolkate, forcing him into errors in the third set.

Another unseeded player Jurij Rodionov of Austria lost the first set despite firing 8 aces. However, he managed to take the next two sets to score a comeback win against 168-ranked and 21-year-old seventh seed Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-2 in a 2-hour 9-minute match. The 6ft 3 inches Austrian, who was ranked as high as 87 in the world served 15 aces in the match.

Results (main draw):

First Round:

Billy Harris (GBR) bt [WC] Manas Dhamne (IND) 6-4, 6-4; Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg (FRA) bt [Q] Petr Bar Biryukov 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-3; [6] Brandon Holt (USA) bt [WC] Aryan Shah (IND) 6-2, 6-2; [Q] Masamichi Imamura (JPN) bt [Alt] Jay Clarke (GBR) 7-6(2), 6-2; [Q] Michael Geerts (BEL) bt Marek Gengel (CZE) 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4); [5] Ugo Blanchet (FRA) bt Enzo Couacaud (FRA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; [Alt] Kyrian Jacquet (FRA) bt Rio Noguchi (JPN) 6-1, 6-3; Bernard Tomic (AUS) bt Nicolas Mejia (COL) 6-2, 6-2; Khumoyun Sultanov (UZB) bt [3] Tristan Schoolkate (AUS) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; Jurij Rodionov (AUT) bt [7] Shintaro Mochizuki (JPN) 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-2; James McCabe (AUS) bt [Alt] Enrico Dalla Valle (ITA) 6-0, 6-3; [Q] Ilia Simakin bt [LL] Blake Ellis (AUS)6-4, 6-2.

/IANS