Srinath, Fazaluddin advance

CHANDIGARH, Jan 6: Winner of the first leg in Delhi, Vadim Kutsenko of Uzbekistan and second seed Lior Mor of Israel crashed out while India...

CHANDIGARH, Jan 6: Winner of the first leg in Delhi, Vadim Kutsenko of Uzbekistan and second seed Lior Mor of Israel crashed out while Indian qualifier Syed Fazaluddin and Prahlad Srinath moved into the quarter-finals of the Escort Yamaha ITF Men’s Future Tennis Circuit (2nd leg) at the Chandigarh Club grasscourts today.

After losing the first set at 3-6, Kutsenko with 328 ATP ranking, requested ITF supervior Luigi Brambilla to shift his match to some other court. His request was accepted and the pre-quarterfinal match was allotted to court no 9 from court no 1 which was slippery due to overnight dew. However, this did not bring any luck to him as his rival — 642nd ATP ranked –Matej Pampoulov of Austria won 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours.

Prahlad Srinath gladdened the Indian hearts. Playing on court number 8, he led 5-2 in the decider. His rival Rainer Gunther of Germany held his serve to make it 5-3 and then broke Srinath to further reduce the margin 5-4. Srinath, who was the only Indian to get direct entry into the main draw of the $ 10,000 prize money meet, hit back with vengeance. With sizzling ground strokes and volleys, Srinath broke his opponent in the tenth game to win the set and the match which lasted 120 minutes. Gunther proved more erratic in his serve as he double-faulted 16 times, including seven in the decider.

However full marks should go to qualifier Syed Fazaluddin. Improving his game with every match, Fazaluddin today managed to oust fifth seed and 422nd ATP ranked Jonathan Erlich of Israel in two hours and 15 minutes. The Indian won 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). With the score reading four-all in the decider, tension rose and the match progressed with the serve. Tied at six-all, the tie-breaker rule was applied. Fazaluddin served first and won the point. Fazaluddin then raced to a 6-2 lead. He then committed a double fault. Serving at 4-6, Erlich doublefaulted.

At times the players did not agree with the chair umpire’s decisions. After the match Erlich hit the netcord with his racquet and the umpire’s chair in frustration. Fazaluddin scored five aces in reply to Erlich’s half a dozen.

Results

Singles (PQF): Matej Pampoulov (Aut) bt Vadim Kutsenko (Uzb) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, Marcus Hilpert (Ger) bt Alex Bose (Ger) 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), Andrej Krasevec (Slo) bt David Morente (Esp) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), Syed Fazaluddin (Ind) bt Jonathan Erlich (Isr) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), Prahlad Srinath (Ind) bt Rainer Gunther (Ger) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, James Delgado (GBR) Harsh Mankad (Ind) 6-3, 7-5, Andrew Rueb (USA) bt Vikrant Chadha (Ind) 6-3, 6-3, Kyle Rudman (SA) bt Lior Mor (Isr) 6-4, 6-2.

Doubles (PQF): Lior Mor (Isr) & James Delgado (GBR) bt Akshay Vishal Rao & Sunil Kumar (Ind) 6-2, 2-6, 6-1, A Radhakrishan & Rishi Sridhar (Ind) bt Syed Faziluddin & Prahlad Srinath (Ind) 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, Marcus Hilpert (Ger) & Todd Meringoff (USA) bt Nitin Kirtane & Sandeep Kirtane (Ind) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, Kyle Rudman (SA) & Amol Wakalkar (Ind) bt Jonathan Erlich (Ger) & Okun Noam (Isr) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, Ali Hamadeh (Leb) & Andrew Rueb (USA) bt Miha Gregorc & David Morente (Esp) 6-7 (8-6), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), Andrej Bizjak & Andrej Krasevec (Slo) 6-4, 6-3, Alex Box & Patrik Erhardt (Ger) bt M Ghouse & Harsh.