New Delhi, February 16 India's Karan Singh lost in a three-set battle to seventh seed Daniel Michalski of Poland in the first round of the 2026 Delhi Open here on Monday.
The ATP Challenger 75 event, now in its sixth edition, is being held at the DLTA Complex from February 16 to 22, with 32 men's singles players and 16 doubles teams competing for the title.
In other first-round main draw matches, fifth seed Oliver Crawford of Great Britain won a hard-fought 7-6 6-5 victory over Croatia's Duje Ajdukovic, while Belgium's Michael Geerts defeated Lithuania's Edas Butvilas 6-3 7-5.
In the final round qualifying action on Monday, India's Manish Sureshkumar fought back from a 3-5 deficit in the second set to win 6-3 7-5 against Korea's Uisung Park.
The 26-year-old is the only Indian to have made it out of the qualifying draw and was understandably pleased with his performance on a court that he described as one of his favorites.
"This is one of my favorite courts because I've played a lot of matches here. Even the two Nationals I have won were on this court. So, this court is really special for me, and I was very happy with how I played today. I managed to stay in the game because I was down a break in the second set, but I'm very happy to have won this match," he said after his win.
Sureshkumar qualified for the qualifying draw at the last minute as an alternate, but he is certainly making the most of the opportunity.
"Sometimes unexpected things happen when you don't expect them to, and I think this is one of them. I just want to keep the momentum going in the main draw. I don't feel any pressure because all the other players are really good. I'm the underdog, so I just want to keep the momentum going," he added.
The other Indian in the final round of qualifying, Ramkumar Ramanthan, lost in straight sets to Korea's Hyeon Chung, who has been ranked as high as No. 19 in the world and had previously defeated Novak Djokovic en route to the semi-finals of the 2018 Australian Open.
The 29-year-old Indian is currently ranked No. 393 in the world after returning to the tour in late 2024 following persistent back injuries that forced him off the circuit.
Top seed Denis Yevseyev of Kazakhstan, second seed Ioannis Xilas of Greece, fourth seed Maks Kasnikowski of Poland, and seventh seed Alexandr Binda of Italy also advanced to the main draw in their final round qualifying matches.
Somdev Devvarman is the only Indian singles champion in the tournament's history, having won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015, while there have been all-Indian doubles champions twice in the past, with Saketh Myneni/Sanam Singh and Yuki Bhambri/Mahesh Bhupathi winning the trophy in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
As part of the ATP Challenger 75 series, the tournament will award 75 ranking points to the singles and doubles champions, 50 points to the doubles runners-up, and 44 points to the singles runner-up.
The singles champion will receive USD 17,000 in prize money, with the runner-up earning USD 9,600. The doubles champions will split USD 4,980, while the runners-up will share USD 2,880.
