Final will be tough duel

I don8217;t remember the last time I served so many aces. The count in today8217;s semi-final against Mose Navarra stood at 14! And the first serve percentage was somewhere around 85. I returned well and could not find a better way to enter the final.The final against Hesh8217; is going to be really interesting. For one, Hesh8217; Bhupathi and I know each other8217;s game so well that it would be played entirely in the mind. He knows what my weaknesses are and so do I. He knows where exactly to keep his serve and I know where he will return my first or second serves. He has the big serve and the big return and if he doesn8217;t do that tomorrow, he will be in trouble.

We played against each other in the Ahmedabad Challenger on hard courts last year where I won in three sets. He gave everthing he had in the first set which he won and then tired a bit. This time it is on grass and the points are going to be shorter. None of his opponents here had the returns on grass. They were basically blocking his serve back making himvolley. Nobody has really gone after his second serve, he has not been pushed around as it normally happens on grass. And it would be a tough match if I can return the way I have been doing this week.

Coming back to today8217;s semi-finals, both of us had enough chances to size up the opponents quite early. Hesh was quite comfortable in the first set against Ketola and was a break up in the second set but dropped serve to take the set to the tie-breaker. He didn8217;t let the momentum go away wrapping it up in straight sets.

Going into the final both of us are relaxed and I8217;m not thinking about the result. It8217;s great that two Indians are in the final of a Challenger event. It doesn8217;t happen quite often and I8217;m looking forward to it.