Ilya Ivashka in action against Hamish Stewart in the S.M. Krishna Memorial Open ATP Challenger at the S.M. Krishna Tennis Stadium in Bengaluru on May 22, 2026.
| Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR
A meltdown notwithstanding, Ilya Ivashka managed to come out on top in his semifinal outing against Hamish Stewart at the S.M. Krishna Memorial Open ATP Challenger tennis here on Friday (May 22, 2026).
Trailing 3-4 in the second set, Ivashka was furious when the chair umpire overruled a line call in favour of Stewart.
Ivashka, who had hit the last shot of the rally into the net, was convinced that the deuce point must be replayed. The umpire, however, awarded the point to Stewart, citing that the original ‘out’ call from the linesperson did not affect Ivashka’s shot.
“No! No! No chance!,” Ivashka screamed at the top of his lungs.
Ivashka sat in his chair and demanded to see the supervisor, who agreed with the umpire’s decision.
Ivashka reluctantly went back to the court, going on to lose the second set 3-6. The Belarus player exchanged verbal volleys with the supervisor — seated in the stands — on his way out of the court.
The short break before the third set allowed Ivashka to regroup. The 32-year-old stayed focussed on the job, completing a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over third-seed Stewart.
Ivashka will face fourth-seed Petr Bar Biryukov in the singles final on Friday.
K. Petr Bar Biryukov in action against Alastair Gray in the S.M. Krishna Memorial Open ATP Challenger at the S.M. Krishna Tennis Stadium in Bengaluru on May 22, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
K. MURALI KUMAR
In the doubles semifinals, the Indian pair of Adil Kalyanpur and Mukund Sasikumar took out Charles Barry (Ireland) and Joshua Charlton (Australia) 6-4, 6-3.
Niki Poonacha and Saketh Myneni, who won the Karnataka Open last week, fell to Biryukov and Grigoriy Lomakin.
The results (Semifinals): Ilya Ivashka bt Hamish Stewart (GBR) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2; Petr Bar Biryukov bt Alastair Gray (GBR) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).
Doubles: Adil Kalyanpur & Mukund Sasikumar bt Charles Barry (Irl) & Joshua Charlton (Aus) 6-4, 6-3; Petr Bar Biryukov & Grigoriy Lomakin (Kaz) bt Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha & Saketh Myneni 6-3, 6-4.
Published – May 22, 2026 09:38 pm IST
