DULIAJAN, December 27: German Marcus Hilpert could not have asked for an easier final at the National Grass Court Tennis Championship here today. His opponent Gaurav Natekar, veteran of many battles served up 16 double faults and gifted away the match 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.In contrast, petite Uzma Khan came back from a set deficit to win an intriguing women's final with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win over Manisha Malhotra. For 17-year old Uzma, it was the best New Year present to cap a successful year. However, it was Manisha. who had things under control in the first set, earning a break in the first game itself.Uzma took time to settle down, and went on to nullify the break.Even in the second set, Malhotra appeared to be in greater command and broke Uzma in the third game with a brilliant down-the-line forehand return. But after that the game changed. Suddenly, Uzma was charged up and then played some excellent returns, particularly with Malhotra chipping and following up at the net. Khan's stuck to her normal gameplan, kept the ball in play and while Manisha charged in. Manisha, running short of patience, started making unforced errors when rallies became longer.In the deciding set, the first four games went against the serve, and the next five with it. With the match poised at deuce and Manisha serving to make it 5-5, it was anybody's game. Uzma, who rarely displays her emotions remained steady while Manisha was clearly shaky. She did save one match point but then came a beautiful backhand pass and a small shriek of joy from Uzma to seal the affair.Earlier, Marcus Hilpert produced his best serves of the tournament to down Gaurav Natekar in one hour 35 minutes. Natekar's game was a story of contradictions. He started off with an ace and continued to serve well till the fifth game. Then the double fault bug bit him very severely. Four double faults in the seventh game including one at break point. Game nine: again three double faults with one to gift away the set.The second set had a similar script with Natekar conceding game two, six and eight with double faults. However, he managed to wrest one on Hilpert's serve. That would have been a little soothing for his frayed nerves but Hilpert hardly had to do anything thereafter. Natekar was doing all the good work for him. Even when a game went beyond the serve, Natekar's unforced errors found him losing the point. Of course, to add spice, Natekar served the rare ace too as in the second game of the third set.To add salt to injury, Natekar also found his sense of judgment deserting him. He left good balls alone thinking they were wide. Frustration set in with nothing going right. Natekar earned a warning for charging at the chair umpire and hitting the ball into the net after he felt that a line-call wasn't correct.Meanwhile, Hilpert continued to get his passing shots right and earned a break with a brilliant on-the-run cross court in the sixth game of the third set. The score reading 5-1 in his favour, Hilpert only had to hold his serve to annex the title in just over an hour and-a-half.
