Indian challenge comes to an end

Israeli Jonathan Erlich, who had come through three qualifying rounds, packed enough stamina to win 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) in two hours and 15 minutes against another Russian Yuri Schukin.

Rodolphe Cadart too came through a three-setter, winning 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 over German Maxmilian Abel while Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei gave a walkover to Thailand’s Danai Udomchoke.

Amritraj gained the initiative when a rusty Allegro dropped serve in the fifth game of the first set. But soon the Swiss hit the right gear and began playing his shots to put the pressure back on his opponent.

For a player whose strength was serve and volley, Amritraj committed too many mistakes at the net. His failure to erect a sound defence at the net was staggering even as Allegro passed him on both sides with ease. He either played a weak volley, setting up smashes for the opponent or lacked the authority to finish off the points.

Allegro also played a couple of strong return winners and his backhand winners also caught the Indian clay-footed. A strong 10th game fetched the break and pushed the set into tie-breaker.

But Amritraj’s attacking spirit swung the momentum once again in his favour. But Amritraj double faulted to concede the set.

Amritraj failed to arrest the slide in time and soon he was down 0-1.

Amritraj had his moments as when in the fourth game he executed a superb backhand return and an impulsive lob left Allegro helpless for a 0-30 advantage. But Allegro was serving strong, even his second serves were too much for the Indian.

And once he gained control, Allegro never allowed things to slip.