With an envious 6-1 record in the ITF futures singles finals in his career,Chandigarh star Sanam Singh went into the final of the $10,000 ITF Calabasas Men's singles championship in California looking to add another futures title to his name. But standing in his way and the futures title was the former NCAA singles champion Bradley Klahn,who was the second seed in the tournament. Sanam,however,took his chances despite being seeded sixth,and showed the same form that has caught the imagination of tennis officials and fans all over in the recent times. With almost half a dozen futures titles in the last one year,the former Virginia All-American started milking Klahn right from the beginning. If Klahn was all might and power,then Sanam was tenacious and mixed his game to emerge triumphant. It was the first time that the two former collegiate stars were playing against each other. And the battle seemed to be tilting in Sanam's favour when he claimed the first set 6-4. However,there was a sudden change in the script as Klahn made full use of the opportunities that came his way and blazed to a 6-1 victory in the second set to take the final match into the third set. Sanam was once again staring down the barrel and was down 0-2 in the third set,and serving,when he woke from the slumber to save a total of four break points and won the third game of the final set. "I don't know how,but I was able to come back and win that game," Sanam,25,had told after his victory. "It would have been really tough to come back from two breaks down if I would have lost that one." In the crucial sixth and seventh games both players traded breaks of serve even as Klahn took a 4-3 lead following Sanam's double-fault on a Klahn advantage. Sanam kept his nerves,produced nice all-court shots and even managed a few timely drop shots,that gave him an insurmountable 4-0 lead over the World No. 223. After clinching the singles title,Sanam rested for about 45 minutes and then returned on the court,this time to win the doubles with partner and fellow countryman Saketh Myneni. It turned out to be a lucky day for Sanam as he and Saketh beat Korea's Yong-Kyu Lim and Ji Sung Nam,6-7 (3),6-2,14-12.
