Twenty five year-old Dhakshineswar Suresh, the strapping 6 feet-5 tennis player from Madurai, created quite the stor at Winston-Salem ATP 250, by making the main draw with a thundering, rollicking comeback win over former Top 20 Alejandro Tabilo.
The wildcard entrant upset the current World No 103, whose ranking does no justice to his pedigree – Tabilo beat Novak Djokovic earlier this season.
The former Georgia Gwinett student (they are called Grizzlies), has played tennis at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, before transferring to Wake Forest (Demon Deacons). He is currently ranked No 664. His highest career ranking was 663 last week.
Going up against Tabilo in the qualifying, however, he was to face someone who’s been as high as World No 19 just last fall.
It ended up as the highest ranked scalp for Suresh, and also gave him a maiden entry into an ATP Tour main draw. He next plays Argentine Mariano Navone.
The big serving Madurai player sent down 15 aces, and was 1-6, a set and 1-3 down in the second set tiebreak before he turned it around. Strong in serve and on his forehand, Suresh is making
How the Accelerator helped Suresh
Suresh was among the among 22 college players who will benefit from direct entry into ATP Challenger Tour events as part of the third year of the ATP Next Gen Accelerator.
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According to their website, this initative between ATP and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) was created to increase the development pathway for top players in the American collegiate system. Following the NCAA Championships in May, players qualified based on their year-end ranking and/or performance in the NCAA Championships.
This was his third win over a Top 150 player, after defeating Billy Harris (No 146) and Estonian Mark Lajal (147) at Lexington in late July. His run to the quarterfinals gave him 16 points.
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