Vishnu sets up final with Yuki

Klaasen has managed to escape a couple of close calls this week,but Vardhan showed enough intent to make his challenge last till the final point of the match. He lost the first set and was going the way of a straight sets defeat,but just then,a double fault from the world No 342 set the tone for the rest of the match. The second set tie-break was a topsy-turvy affair,with two match points thrown in,but Vardhan held on to his nerve to ring in a decisive set. His return of serve left his opponent wrong-footed on many occasions,and he earned two service breaks to make the third set a straightforward one.

Vishnu,incidentally,was part of the contingent who had travelled to Florida for a training stint at Nick Bolletieri’s academy recently,and while a lot of praise had been doing the rounds regarding the positive effects of that trip,on Friday it was on display for all to see as the Indian world No 697 fought his way to a memorable win.

Wobbly start
In the second semi-final of the day,Yuki Bhambri got off to an unsteady start against Hatanaka,being forced to fight off a break point in his first service game of the match. He managed to do that with a stinging return,and pulled off another on his way to a break on the Japanese player’s following service game. The next few games went with serve,but just when it was Yuki’s turn to close out the set,Hatanaka decided it was time to fight back. It took six deuces,with only the last one giving the advantage to the Indian,and he duly took his chance,a smash consigning the first set to history,6-4.

The second set tested the Australian Open junior champion a fair bit,forcing him to think of ways out of long rallies and break points,but he got the only break in the ninth game. As Yuki served out the match,a few nervous moments ensued when he trailed 15-30,but eventually,a backhand slammed into the net by his opponent ended the singles action of the day,making Saturday’s final line-up an all-Indian one.

The doubles title was won by Ashutosh Singh and Srirambalaji Narayanaswamy,who beat fourth seeds Klaasen and Yuichi Ito of Japan,7-6 (1) 7-6 (7).