Divij Sharan and Ivo Karlovic enter semis of Hall of Fame Championships

Divij Sharan – File Photo

Emerging Indian tennis player Divij Sharan along with Croat Ivo Karlovic moved through to the semi-finals of the Hall of Fame Championships at Newport. The Indo-Croat pair defeated the combination of Canadian Adil Shamasdin and Australian John Patrick Smith in a hard fought quarterfinal encounter  6-4 4-6 19-17.

Earlier in the draw, the Indo-Croat pair had another difficult encounter against the Ukrainian pair of Illya Marchenko and Denys Molchanov. Karlovic-Sharan won this match 4-6 7-6(1) 11-9 after saving 5 match points in the super tiebreak.

After a Grand Slam appearance at Wimbledon, Divij Sharan continued his impressive run from Wimbledon at the only grasscourt tournament outside Europe. Ivo Karlovic, meanwhile, is on a comeback trail after suffering from viral meningitis earlier this year resulting in his singles ranking plunging to 167.

Karlovic-Sharan will now face the all-American pair of Tim Smyczek and Rhyne Williams in the semi-finals.

The other Indian in the draw Prakash Amritraj bowed out from both the singles and the doubles competitions. Amritraj lost out to former Australian World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets in the 2nd round. In the doubles, Amritraj and American Sam Querrey gave a walk over in their doubles quarterfinal clash to Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.