Soeda,Japans rising son,stuns listless Wawrinka
As Soeda swung back and forth,Wawrinka argued with the chair,pointing to his poorly re-strung gut against the Swiss-made original.
When the chair umpire called time,only the Japanese one of two qualifiers in this quarterfinals of the Chennai Open rushed to his side of the court,air-racqueting his ground strokes along the way. On the other side of the net,Stanislas Wawrinka,the No.17 ranked defending champion serving 2-3 on level terms in the second set,stayed put on his Court One plastic seat. As Soeda swung back and forth,Wawrinka argued with the chair,pointing to his poorly re-strung gut against the Swiss-made original.
Following intervention with the stringer and the officials an ordeal that lasted 10 minutes Wawrinka got up a disappointed man,walked to his spot and began his line crushing service defence. Every ball he stroked kissed the line,but somehow,Soeda found himself in place,returning the ball back into yawning empty spaces. Soon,with yet another break,the 120th ranked Japanese had taken a lead to serve for a berth in the last four of this Chennai Open.Service,however,wasn’t Soeda’s strong point; just like his qualifying counterpart playing on centre court,Yuichi Sugita.
The 235th ranked Japanese singles player had taken a set lead against the second seeded Nicolas Almagro,but choked 5-2 up in the second,four points away from the greatest win of the career. Sugita served two double faults after going up 15-0,was broken on the same score,and conceded the set during the tie-break,only to lose by one break in the third. Almagro will play Canada’s Milos Raonic in the semis.
But he had still come a long way from a few days ago,when he played the qualifiers against Rik de Voest on one of those side courts in the Nungambakkam stadium before the tournament had started,on New Year’s eve. While Sugita fell at the pre-penultimate hurdle,Soeda made it count today.
This previous Sunday,Soeda,like Sugita,had walked into one of the non-showcase courts with the free spirit of a qualifier. As 100-odd people cheered his opponent Rohan Bopanna on,the Japanese lad squeaked past his favoured Indian opponent over two tie-break sets,setting himself up against Frederico Gil. The Portuguese was beaten over three,but Soeda was yet to play with the crowd on his back.
With about a few hundred deviants from the main court supporting his every move,Soeda froze as he came close to serving out the match against the Swiss. Every time he held the ball up for a toss,a stray voice told him to do what he probably knew ever since he landed on these shores make the moment count. With a high kick serve followed by a weak backhand,Soeda conceded two breaks back to Wawrinka in the second set. Yet,with a hard to touch return of both his forehand and backhand sides,Soeda hung on to win the greatest match of his career.
“I am really happy,” said Soeda. “My first tour semifinal by beating the world No. 17.” He perhaps meant that he could not ask for anything more. Wawrinka too was gracious in his loss.
He deserved to win,” the defending champ said. “He was playing better in rhythm after coming through the qualifiers. Something that Almagro clearly didn’t have on his side.
Raonic test ahead
After being given a bye in the first round being No.10 in the world has its perks in India the third-best Spaniard in the world today was given a walkover in the second round against Belgium Steve Darcis. The rust showed in his game,as he struggled to put away the opener against Sugita,before fighting for a place in the last four all through the second and the third sets. Almagro may have gotten through one Japanese qualifier,but to reach the next,he will have to get past his biggest test of 2012 quite early in the season the big serving and giant killing Raonic.
Results: 2-Nicolas Almagro Spain bt Yuichi Sugita Japan 4-6 7-68 6-4; Go Soeda Japan bt 3-Stanislas Wawrinka Switzerland 6-4 6-4; 4-Milos Raonic Canada bt Dudi Sela Israel 7-64 6-3
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