Rai and Pannu in good form ahead of Davis Cup tie

Ajeet Rai and Kiranpal Pannu will be late arrivals into Helsinki this week ahead of next week’s Davis Cup tie against Finland. But they won’t mind because they have shown some strong form in their respective tournaments in Thailand and Tunisia.

Rai is into his first ATP Challenger doubles final partnering Korean Chung Yun-seong at the Bangkok Open. They have beaten the Japanese pair of Toshihide Matsui and Kaito Uesugi in straight sets 6-4 7-5 in an hour and 12 minutes.

They will face the Indonesian Philippines combination of Christopher Rungkat and Francis Alcantara for the title.

Kiranpal Pannu is through to the singles semi-finals at the ITF tournament in Monastir in Tunisia. He’s beaten India’s

Rishab Agarwal 6-4, 6-4 and will face top seed Aziz Dougaz in the semis.

Artem Sitak however has lost his doubles semi final at the ATP Challenger tournament in Cassis in France. Partnering Victor Cornea, the pair have been beaten by the Belgian pair of Joran Vliegen and Michael Geerts 7-6 (4), 6-1, in an hour and 19 minutes. Sitak has now gone to Helsinki for the Davis Cup tie.