Niki Poonacha and Gonzalo Escobar win ATP Challenger doubles title in Brownsburg, Indiana; 12th Challenger doubles crown overall

Niki Poonacha wins second straight ATP Challenger doubles title with Gonzalo Escobar at Brownsburg

The Indian tennis player’s win in Indiana was his 12th ATP Challenger doubles crown overall and sixth of the 2026 season.

India’s Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha continued his impressive form on the ATP Challenger circuit, teaming up with Ecuador’s Gonzalo Escobar to win the doubles title at the Indiana Hardcourt Championships 2026 in the USA on Saturday.

The unseeded Indian-Ecuadorian tennis pair defeated second seeds Robert Cash of America and Bart Stevens of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the ATP Challenger 75-level tournament at the BB Wynne Court.

The Brownsburg Challenger victory marked Niki Poonacha and Gonzalo Escobar’s second straight doubles title together, following their triumph at the Lexington Open in Kentucky last week.

In the first set of the final, the Indian-Ecuadorian duo secured a decisive break against Robert Cash and Bart Stevens in the 10th game to take the opener.

Niki Poonacha and Gonzalo Escobar then grew in confidence in the second set, breaking the American-Dutch pair twice in the second and sixth games as they went on to comfortably wrap up the final in an hour and 14 minutes.

The Indian-Ecuadorian duo, in fact, were in imperious form throughout their title run, not dropping a single set en route to the crown.

They began their campaign with a 6-3, 6-4 win over American wildcards Michael Andre and Sam Landau.

Niki Poonacha and Gonzalo Escobar then saw off another American pairing, Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals before edging past Australian duo Ajeet Rai and James Watt 7-6(4), 7-6(2) in a closely fought semi-final.

Niki Poonacha’s victory on the hard courts at Brownsburg was his 12th ATP Challenger doubles crown overall and sixth of the 2026 season.

The 31-year-old Indian tennis player had earlier won the Bengaluru Open 2 ATP Challenger 50 with compatriot Saketh Myneni.

He also claimed titles at the Open Sopra Steria de Lyon, Menorca ATP Challenger 100 and Chennai ATP Challenger 50 with Thailand’s Pruchya Isaro earlier this year.

Part of the men’s doubles reserves in tennis for the Asian Games 2026 next month, Niki Poonacha has moved up to world No. 81 in the Live ATP doubles rankings , making him India’s No. 3 behind Yuki Bhambri and Olympian Sriram Balaji.

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