Kalyanpur-Mukund Clinch Maiden ATP Challenger Doubles Crown at SM Krishna Memorial Open

Bengaluru- India’s Adil Kalyanpur and Mukund Sasikumar scripted a memorable triumph at the SM Krishna Memorial Open 2026, winning their first-ever ATP Challenger doubles title in Bengaluru on Saturday.

The unseeded Indian pair defeated Petr Bar Biryukov and Grigoriy Lomakin of Kazakhstan 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-3 in a hard-fought final at the SM Krishna KSLTA Tennis Stadium. The match lasted one hour and 37 minutes.

After narrowly missing out on the opening set in a tie-break, Kalyanpur and Mukund bounced back impressively in the second set to level the contest. The Indian duo then dominated the super tie-break to seal a memorable title victory on home soil.

Their title run included some impressive upsets. In the quarter-finals, they stunned fourth-seeded Japanese duo Kokoro Isomura and Ryuki Matsuda 6-3, 7-6(4). They followed it up with a commanding 6-4, 6-3 win over second seeds Charles Barry of Ireland and Joshua Charlton of Australia in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, another Indian pair, Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha and Saketh Myneni, bowed out in the semi-finals after losing 6-3, 6-4 to Biryukov and Lomakin.

Mukund also made a strong impression in the singles event. The 29-year-old pushed Britain’s Alastair Gray to the limit in the quarter-finals before going down 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) after an intense battle lasting two hours and 40 minutes.

In the singles final, Petr Bar Biryukov defeated Belarus’ Ilya Ivashka 7-6(0), 4-6, 6-4 to lift the title.

Earlier, Ivashka had defeated Britain’s third seed Hamish Stewart 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the semi-finals, while fourth seed Biryukov edged past second seed Alastair Gray 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in another closely contested encounter.

The SM Krishna Memorial Open was Bengaluru’s third ATP Challenger event of the year, following the Bengaluru Open in January and the Karnataka Open held earlier this month.

With inputs from IANS