Fazal-Kauffmann go down

Haddad and Jonathan complimented each other for the victory at a brief prizedistribution function. Both of them will figure tomorrow in an all-Israel final. Qualifier Simon Larose had raised the vision of another upset victory in the singles semi-final at the centre court as he raced to a comfortable 5-0 lead in the first set against top seed Aamir Haddad. The Israeli player, once after warming up, proved the seeding committee right for giving him top billing. He won the semi-final 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-2 in 95 minutes.

On the outside court, the third seed 416th ranked Erlich Jonathan, was engaged in a thrilling semi-final battle against lanky unseeded 680th ranked Ivo Karlovic of Croatia. The battle for the second berth in the final lasted one hour and 50 minutes in favour of Jonathan 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Six feet, 11 inches tall Karlovic drew repeated cheers from the crowd for his booming serve and height. He unleashed 11 aces, six in the first set itself which he won 6-3 after breaking Erlich’s fourth service. Karlovic tended to become erratic with his serve and committed four doublefaults in the second set, including three in the 10th game where he was broken as Erlich Jonathan won the set 6-4 to share two sets.

With losing his total command over his serve, Karlovic became erratic again. Under pressure he wilted repeatedly and committed four more double faults in the decider. Jonathan broke Karlovic in the eighth game for a 6-4 victory. Jonathan gave a consistent display. He committed only one double fault and had a lone ace to his credit.

On centre court Larose looked an inspired player against top seed Amir Haddad. With a 5-0 lead in the first set, Larose was in total control of the game. He had broken Haddad in the second and fourth games. Haddad then bounced back into the game with a vengeance. By breaking Larose in the seventh and ninth games he levelled the score at five-all and six-all. In the tie-breaker, Larose won 7-2 for a 7-6 first set win.

In the remaining two sets, Haddad with better court coverage and backhand deep slices was in total control of the proceedings.Larose won the second game of the second set at love with his powerful serve. He, however double-faulted after leading 30-15 and Haddad capitalised on the mistake and broke his opponent for a 3-1 lead. Larose was again broken in the sixth game as Haddad won the second in just 19 minutes.

Larose was broken in the third and seventh games of the third set. The fifth game was the longest one. Deuce was called four times before Larose managed to hold his serve. After Haddad had taken a 5-2 lead and serving, Larose threw in the towel. First he made a deliberate poor return. Later a wild shot was followed by a hit into the stands to display his frustration for losing the match.

RESULTS

Singles (s-finals): 1-Amir Haddad (Israel, ranked 385) bt Q-Simon Larose (Can, 733) 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-2, 3-Jonathan Erlich (Isr, 416) bt Ivo Karlovic (Cro, 680), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Doubles (final): 2-Erlich Jonathan and Amir Haddad (Isr) bt Syed Fazaluddin (Ind) and Cederic Kauffmann (USA) 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.