No future for Indians in ITF

Doran went up 6-1 in the tie-break, but Manoj fought well to make it 6-5. Then a weak serve from Manoj enabled Doran to make an easy passing backhand and clinch the set 7-5. In the second set Manoj appeared to have lost steam as he went down without putting up a fight at 6-3.

In the other quarter-final matches of the day, the top seeds Juraj Hasko and Viktor Bruthans had easy outings. Second-seeded Viktor Bruthans, who survived a scare in his second round clash against India’s Rohan Bopanna, did not have any such problems in disposing of Kamil Patel of Mauritius 6-2, 6-4.

Number one seed Juraj Hasko of Slovakia also made shortwork of compatriot Tomas Janci 6-1, 6-0.Fourth-seed Miloslav Grolmus had to retire hurt in his quarter-final match against fifth seed Sekac.The semi-finals are slated for the morrow with Doran playing Bruthans , and top seed Juraj Hasko taking on fifth seed Branislav Sekac.

The doubles semi-finals saw the Indo-Irish pair of Kedar Shah and John Doran making it through to the final. The wild card entrants, continued their good work and beat the British pair of Ben Gedzelak and Jonathan Marray 7-6, 6-4, to set up a final clash with the top-seeded Slovakian pair of Viktor Bruthans and Branislav Sekac. The Slovaks, however, were made to sweat by their countrymates Tomas Janci and Michal Mertinak before winning 5-7, 6-4, 7-6.

Results: Singles (all QF): Juraj Hasko (Svk) bt Tomas Janci (Svk) 6-1 6-0; Branislav Sekac (Svk) bt Miloslav Grolmus (Svk) 6-2 1-0; John Doran (Ire) bt Manoj Mahadevan (Ind) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3; Viktor Bruthans (Svk) bt Kamil Patel (Mri) 6-2, 6-4.

Doubles(SF): Viktor Bruthans(Svk)/ Branislav Sekac (Svk) bt Tomas Janci (Svk)/ Michal Mertinak(Svk) 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3); John Doran (Ire)/ Kedar Shah (Ind) bt Ben Gudzelak (Gbr)/ Jonathan Marray (Gbr) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.