Bengaluru, Feb 24 (Reporter) Karan Singh secured his place in the singles main draw of the DafaNews Bengaluru Open with a gritty 6-4, 7-6(6) victory over Aryan Shah in an all-Indian second-round clash of the Qualifying event at the KSLTA Courts on Monday. Karan, who recently made his Davis Cup debut for India during the World Group I Playoffs tie against Togo, displayed remarkable composure in a tense second-set tiebreak to seal the match in one hour and 15 minutes. Organised by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA), the Bengaluru Open is an ATP Challenger 125 tournament boasting a prize pool of USD 200,000. It is currently India’s most prestigious ATP Challenger Tour event, with the champion set to earn 125 valuable ATP ranking points. Reflecting on his win over Aryan and his qualification for the main draw, Karan said: "I was simply holding my serve and trying to put pressure on his serve. He (Aryan) served really well. In the tiebreaker, I had some chances, but he came back strongly. At 7-6, he double-faulted, and that was that. It feels good to qualify, especially here in India. The spectators are amazing, and I am looking forward to the main draw matches." The final round of qualifying also saw a major upset, as top seed and Delhi Open finalist Billy Harris suffered a shock 6-7 (4), 4-6 defeat against Petr Bar Biryukov. However, second seed Ilia Simakin eased past Japan’s Kokoro Isomura in just 48 minutes with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory. India’s Mukund Sasikumar was unable to join Karan in the main draw, losing to Czech Republic’s Hynek Barton in a hard-fought 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 battle. Spain’s Nicolas Alvarez Varona also secured his berth with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Hiroki Moriya. Tournament Director Sunil Yajaman expressed enthusiasm over the quality of competition in the qualifying rounds, stating: "The level of competition has been exceptional, with several closely contested matches. It sets the stage for an exciting main draw. It is great to see Indian players like Karan (Singh) making the most of this platform. As we move into the main event, we anticipate even more high-intensity tennis, with a strong mix of international and homegrown talent competing at the highest level." With the main draw now set, Karan is scheduled to face Austria’s Jurij Rodionov in the first round. His Davis Cup teammate Ramkumar Ramanathan will have a challenging opener against seventh seed Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan, while teenager Manas Dhamne takes on Biryukov. Meanwhile, in the early main draw Round of 32 results, Colombia’s Nicolas Mejia caused an upset by eliminating fourth seed Elmer Moller 6-3, 6-4, while Japan’s Rio Noguchi advanced with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Justin Engel. Wild card SD Prajwal Dev bowed out in the first round after a three-set defeat to Marek Gengel, while Blake Ellis secured a hard-fought (2)6-7, 6-4, 7-6(6) victory over Michael Geerts...////...