The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Rastogi, Uppal score upset wins

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 12, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Rastogi, Uppal score upset wins

By Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI, JAN. 11. Karan Rastogi did not let his opponent Norikazu Sugiama's medical timeouts dilute his focus, and carved out a handsome 7-6(3), 6-1 win in the first round of the $15,000 ITF Men's Futures tournament here on Tuesday.

Vishal Uppal, a much-travelled performer on the men's circuit, overpowered eighth-seeded Israeli Dekel Valtzer 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-4 in 69 minutes for the second upset of the day at the Ranade Tennis Centre.

The unseeded Rastogi played aggressively from the backcourt and displayed some neat footwork at the net while volleying. After the Indian hopeful took the first set on a tiebreaker, he reeled off five games on the trot in the second to win rather handily.

The Japanese had to get treatment for a stomach ailment during the match but that hardly affected Rastogi's momentum.

"I am happy those time-outs did not rattle me," he said.

He also expressed satisfaction at the way his forehand was shaping up. "This is one area I am working on," He said.

Uppal fought back from 2-5 in the first set, only to lose it in a tie-breaker. But the setback only made him concentrate harder and he kept his nose in front over the next two sets for a hard-earned entry into the second round where Ajay Ramaswami awaits him.

Iranian Ashkan Shokoofi produced the third surprise of the day, beating seventh-seeded Andrei Stoliarov 3-6, 7-5, 7-5.

The results (Indians unless specified): First round: David Sherwood (Gbr) bt Sanam Singh 6-2, 6-4; Vivek Shokeen bt Anoosha Shahgoli (Irn) 6-2, 6-1; Stephen Amritraj (USA) bt Rahil Syed 6-2, 6-1; Harsh Mankad bt Mark Sibilla (Fra) 6-2, 6-2; Prakash Amritraj bt Kamran Rozbeh (Irn) 6-0, 6-1; Vinod Sridhar bt Amod Wakalkar 6-1, 6-2; Michael Ouvarov (Gbr) bt Sergei Krotiouk (Rus) 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(5); Ashkan Shokoofi (Irn) bt Andrei Stoliarov (Rus) 3-6, 7-5, 7-5; Sunil Kumar Sipaeya bt Dori Sadovnik (Isr) 6-0, 6-4; Lester Cook (USA) bt Aditya Madkekar 6-2, 6-4; Murad Inoyatov (Uzb) bt Shahab Hassani-Nafez (Irn) 6-2, 6-2; Karan Rastogi bt Norikazu Sugiyama (Jpn) 7-6(3), 6-1; Vishal Uppal bt Dekel Valtzer (Isr) 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-4; Ajay Ramaswamy bt Mike Scheidweiler (Lux) 7-6(2), 6-0; Denis Istomin (Uzb) bt Konstantin Kravchuk (Rus) 6-2, 6-3; 2-Simon Greul (Ger) bt Vijay Kannan 5-0 (retired).

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