Kirtanes bow out in semis

PUNE, AUGUST 12: India’s doubles duo Nitin and Sandeep Kirtane bowed out of the third-leg of the Egypt ITF Future tennis tournament, losing to the Greek pair of Vasillodos C-Rovas C 2-6, 2-6 in the semi-final on Tuesday, according to information reaching here.

The Kirtane duo overcame a spirited challenge from M Gafa (Egypt) and Vernon (Spain) before winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round. In the quarter-finals, the cousins defeated Teremusch-Gietl A 6-4, 6-4.

In the semi-finals, Nitin suffered a minor shoulder injury and had problems in playing to his optimum against the Greek pair, losing 2-6, 2-6.

The Indian pair had finished runner-up in the first-leg and had lost in the first round of second-leg.

In the singles, however, Nitin for the third week in a row, could not make it to the second round. The left-hander went down against Czech Republic’s Robicek C (ranked 937) 1-6, 3-6.