Fast-mover’s quick progress

“I’m never going to blow my opponent off the court with my serves like a Milos (Raonic) or an Ivo (Karlovic),” he says,matter-of-factly. “But this can be a good thing. I need other strengths to be firing on any given day. It could be anything. Returns,court coverage,forehands even. When all three fire together,I know it’s going to be a good week for me.”

Yuki Bhambri will tell you that on Friday,all of those aspects came together. And came together well. Playing in his first ever ATP quarterfinals (third round at the Chennai Open essentially),Bhambri was out-hit,out-thought and outclassed by a superior opponent in straight sets,6-3,6-3. The total number of games won (six to Bhambri,12 to Pospisil) suggests that the Indian must have been at least half as good as the man ranked 32 in the world. But this wasn’t the case.

The opening game of the second set better illustrates the point. Bhambri began what was to be the last set of his tournament this year with a wide second serve to Pospisil’s forehand. Pospisil,refusing to hit against the angle,blocked the ball back to Bhambri’s backhand. Bhambri ran around his weaker side (as he did whenever possible during his hour and 10 minutes on court) and thumped his inside-out right down the middle. Pospisil obliged by doing the same. But as Bhambri tried to hook his forehand,the ball nicked the frame and speared a leading edge into the stands.

out of depth

Bhambri lost the second point to a perfect one-two. He served to Pospisil’s backhand,which was in turn zipped back down the line. Bhambri dashed across and barely managed to connect his forehand. Pospisil then directed it wide of Bhambri’s backhand reach. Bhambri made it 15-30 thanks to a Pospisil unforced error. But there weren’t very many of these in the match. The next two points,and the break,were soon in Pospisil’s pocket when Bhambri nicked yet another off his frame and subsequently crashed yet a backhand against the tape.

That game was a microcosm of the set and the match. Bhambri too admitted that he was well out of depth. “I was slow on the ball and often caught out of position,” he said later. Pospisil,of course,wasn’t complaining. Having set up his semifinal clash against world number eight Stanislas Wawrinka,Pospisil is hoping to go into battle with this Swiss quite like he did with the other one last year.

“I started 2013 well outside the top-100 (130). By the end of the year,I was facing Roger (Federer) in his backyard (Basel) inside the top-40 (39),” Pospisil says,still pretty shaken by his dramatic rise in 2013. “And then I managed to take a set from the great man. Who would have ever thought,huh?”

That,combined with reaching two Masters semis and getting Canada to the Davis Cup semis all in the same year,called for a great celebration. Pospisil did that by booking a dinner at one of the fanciest restaurants in Vancouver. Under a false name. “When I got to the restaurant,they told me I don’t look like a Tom,” he says,laughing. “Tom is my brother’s name. I use it to make things easier because Vasek,pronounced Vashek,just causes too much confusion in Canada.”

And then he delivers his life story — a story,of course,about contradictions. “My family is from the Czech Republic. My brother was born there,but was named Tom. I was born in Vancouver and named Vasek. How odd is that.”