2023 Chennai Open | Arjun Kadhe wins doubles title, Sumit Nagal bows out in singles semis
India’s Arjun Kadhe and Britain’s Jay Clarke captured the Chennai Open doubles title with a straight-sets win over Sebastian Ofner and Nino Serdarusic at the SDAT Stadium on Saturday. The Indo-British pair needed only 58 minutes to beat the Austrian/ Croatian duo 6-0, 6-4 in the final.
The victory was Kadhe’s fourth doubles title at the ATP Challenger level whereas it is the first professional doubles title of Clarke’s career. In the singles event, Australia's Max Purcell will face off against American Nicolas Moreno De Alboran on Sunday’s final. The 25-year-old De Alboran ended the run of home favourite Sumit Nagal 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 34 minutes in the first semi-final on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Indian had come through the qualifying draw and won five matches in a row to enter the semi-final, his best performance on the circuit since September 20221. In the second semi-final, 24-year-old Purcell, ranked No 203 in the world, won the all-Australian clash over Dane Sweeny 6-4, 7-6 in just over two hours.
With the win, Purcell improved to 2-0 lifetime against his 21-year-old compatriot. Purcell, who won the Wimbledon men's doubles title in July partnering Matthew Ebden, will be gunning for his third ATP Challenger crown on Sunday after Gimcheon in 2016 and Nur-Sultan in 2021. Sunday's clash will be the first professional meeting between Purcell and De Alboran. With his run to the final, De Alboran, ranked No 219 in the world, will break into the top 200 of the world rankings for the first time in his career.
The American is projected to move into the top 190 and could move up higher if he wins the title. Purcell will return to the top 200 and will at least be ranked among the top 175 in the world after reaching the final. The Chennai Open ATP Challenger is being organized by the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) and entry for spectators is free throughout the entire week.