End of the Indian show at Chennai

Prakash Amritraj vs Thierry Ascione. Indian flamboyance vs French consistency. In the final analysis, Ascione’s consistency proved more...

Prakash Amritraj vs Thierry Ascione. Indian flamboyance vs French consistency. In the final analysis, Ascione’s consistency proved more than a match for Prakash’s flair and won him the match 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. The Indian crowd favourite did have his high points though, especially in the first set, but in his apparent hurry to finish the job, he gifted the advantage to the gritty Frenchman at the Tata Open Tennis Championships on Thursday.

Prakash’s exit saw the Indian challenge end at South Asia’s only ATP event. Ascione played safe and seldom tried anything different. It was an almost robotic display of tennis. The serves were well directed and he stuck to the basics of the baseline.

The Indian, on the contrary, started with a bang, taking the attack to Ascione in the first set. The ploy worked and Ascione was surprised by Prakash’s quick reflexes at the net. He was happy staying at the baseline while the Indian made merry, patrolling the region and lashing his returns for winners. Forehands thundered from the Indian No 1’s racket and Ascione was broken in the eighth game. ‘‘I started well by attacking his serve,’’ said Prakash afterwards. The break was all he needed to wrap up the set.

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It was a different Ascione one saw in the next set. The first round conqueror of sixth-seed Rafael Nadal played to his strengths and drew Prakash into rallies while sticking to the baseline. The change in pace seemed to upset the Indian’s rhythm and he blundered on some easy returns. Ascione then surprised Prakash by making a rare appearance at the net, whipped a backhand down the line winner and broke Prakash in the fourth game.

The crowd had fallen silent as the Indian Davis Cupper tried to salvage the situation with some drop shots and wristy stuff. The effort didn’t pay off and he was broken again in the sixth game and soon lost the set after Ascione held.

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