Bruthans, Ziv in final

Bangalore, Jan 21: When Viktor Bruthans won his quarter-final match against seventh seed Radim Zitko after virtually shaking hands with defeat. In a repeat performance, Bruthans earned a final berth in the Wearhouse-Century Club ITF Men8217;s Tennis Championships at the Club courts on Friday.

Bruthans outplayed an error-prone Denis Golovanov of Russia 6-7 6-8, 7-6 7-2, 6-4 in two hours, 20 minutes. He now meets Ziv Kobi who upset the lone seed in the fray 8212; fourth seed Boris Borgula 8212; 7-5, 7-5, in the final.It was an unlucky day for the Indians as both the top-seeded pair of Prahlad Srinath-Saurav Panja and second-seeded Kirtane cousins 8212; Nitin and Sandeep went down in the semi-finals. The top seeds went down to the Israeli pair of Andy Ram and Nir Welgreen Isr 4-6, 4-6 while the Kirtanes were beaten by Miles Macalagan Gbr and Aisam Qureshi Pak 3-6, 6-7 2-7.

Serving for the match at 5-4 40-30 after clinching the first set in the tie-breaker 7-6, Golovanov committed a double fault. He lost another match point at advantage before losing serve.

RESULTS all semis

Singles: Ziv Kobi Isr bt 4-Boris Borgula Svk 7-5, 7-5; Viktor Bruthan Svk bt Denis Golovanov Rus 6-7 6-8, 7-6 7-2, 6-4.
Doubles: Andy Ram/Nir Welgreen Isr bt 1-Prahlad Srinath Saurav Panja Ind 6-4, 6-4; Miles Macalagan Gbr/Aisam Qureshi Pak bt 2-Nitin Kirtane/Sandeep Kirtane 6-3, 7-6 7-2