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An exciting men's singles final between the top seed, Pedro Martinez, and Sixth seed Timofey Skatov, from Kazakhstan, was booked in the Bengaluru Open at the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium on Friday.
Pedro booked his place in the singles final of the Bengaluru Open 2026 with a composed 7-6(4), 6-1 win over France's Martin Martineau while sixth-seed Timofey Skatov, from Kazakhstan, defeated second seed Harold Mayot, from France 6-4, 6-3, as per a press release. Meanwhile, the French duo of Arthur Reymond and Luca Sanchez set up an exciting Doubles Final against the energetic duo of Colombian Nicolas Barrientos and American Benjamin Kittay. Martineau began confidently, finding his first serves and holding comfortably to apply early pressure. In the sixth game, a loose service game from Martinez, marked by unforced errors, allowed the Frenchman to draw first blood with a break. Martinez responded immediately, producing a sequence of clinical returns to break back in the very next game. A tough hold followed as he consolidated to restore parity, setting up a tight finish to the opening set. In the tie-break, Martinez took an early lead and capitalised on further unforced errors from Martineau to pocket the set. Carrying that momentum into the second, the Spaniard raised his level, repeatedly finding the lines on return and breaking Martineau's serve twice to close out the match convincingly and seal his spot in the Final. "Martineau started playing at a really good level, I missed a couple of volleys, and I got broken, but I got the break back in the next game. Then we started playing better, holding serve until the tie-break. In the tie-break, I made more returns on him, and I played better. I think that was the difference and it helped me start better in the second set. Now I have one more match, let's see if I can get the win tomorrow," the world No. 96 commented after the match. Meanwhile, Arthur Reymond and Luca Sanchez edged past top seeds N Sriram Balaji and Neil Oberleitner 7-6(4), 7-6(3) in a high-quality doubles encounter decided by fine margins. The French pair struck early, breaking Balaji and Oberleitner in the opening game before the Indo-Austrian could fully settle. Balaji and Oberleitner gradually found their rhythm and struck back in the eighth game, pushing Reymond and Sanchez deep behind the baseline with clever, well-directed returns. With neither side able to establish a decisive advantage, the opening set went to a tie-break, where Reymond and Sanchez proved sharper to take the lead. The second set followed a similar pattern, with close service games and plenty of aggressive serve-and-volley play from both teams. Once again, a tie-break was required, and Reymond and Sanchez delivered when it mattered, producing impeccable returns to seal the match in straight sets. Joining them in the Final will be the energetic duo of Barrientos/ Kittay, who defeated the Dutch duo of Max Houkes and Niels Visker 7-6(6), 6-3. Later in the day, second seed Harold Mayot was scheduled to take on Kazakhstan's Timofey Skatov to decide the second Singles Finalist. Results Singles Semifinal1-Pedro Martinez (ESP) bt Martin Martineau (FRA) 7-6(4), 6-1 2- Timofey Skatov (KAZ) bt Harold Mayot (FRA), 6-4, 6-3 Doubles Semifinal3-Arthur Reymond/Luca Sanchez (FRA) bt 1-N Sriram Balaji (IND)/ Neil Oberleitner (AUT) 7-6(4), 7-6(3); 4-Nicolas Barrientos (COL)/Benjamin Kittay (USA) bt Max Houkes/ Niels Visker (NED) 7-6(6), 6-3. (ANI)
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