The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Vishaal survives

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Wednesday, Jun 08, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Vishaal survives

Kamesh Srinivasan

GURGAON: Fourth seed Vishaal Uppal recovered from the brink of defeat as he saved three matchpoints to overcome a stiff challenge from qualifier Saket Sai Myneni 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 in the first round of the Indian Oil ITF Satellite tennis circuit second leg at the NTA Complex here on Tuesday.

On a day of high humidity,following overnight rain, Vishaal squeezed the last ounce of energy that he could muster to pip Saketh Sai who messed up his chance in the tenth game of the decider with a nervous play.

Having been troubled by a pulled hip flexor muscle, Vishaal had not trained for his singles after losing in the first round last week. He had played the doubles better, but lacked the sharpness to compete at this level in energy-sapping conditions.

Another qualifier Shivang Mishra played smart when it mattered to turn the tide in his favour to win after staring at defeat at 4-6, 4-5, 0-30. To his credit, the Delhi lad did not drop another game in the match in outplaying the eighth-seeded Pathanjali Ravishankar.

Nitin Kirtane falters

Former national champion Nitin Kirtane almost caused a coup against the fifth-seeded Stephen Mitchel of South Africa, but missed two setpoints in the 12th game of the first set and three setpoints in the 12th game of the second to lose the contest eventually in two tie-breaks.

Vijay Sundar Prashant continued with his good work and downed qualifier Luke Campbell of Britain in straight sets, handling the extended tie-break in the first set with competence and then cruising home in the second.

Top seed Rohan Bopanna fired 13 aces in blowing away the challenge from qualifier Xiao Peng Lai of Hong Kong. The 25-year-old lad then blew his top at the tournament director on the lack of variety in the food provided at the place, especially in the light of the nearest restaurant being more than 25 kilometres away.

Second seed Vijay Kannan and the third-seeded Vinod Sridhar were equally ruthless against their opponents in warming up for the challenges ahead.

Qualifier Vishnu Vardhan had a lucky turn as his opponent, Salifu Mohammed of Ghana who had shaken Bopanna by taking a set in the semifinals last week, pulled out with an upset stomach. Vishnu made light work of beating lucky-loser Anjan Viplav.

Vishnu will next meet the seventh seed Jaco Mathew who accelerated nicely at 4-4 in the second set after losing the first, in getting past wild card Tushar Liberhan in three sets.

Varun Walia managed to win a set from Ashutosh Singh after being down 1-5 in the second set, but the latter did not allow room for any further drama in the third set.

The semifinalist of first week, Gurmehar Singh hit a road block and was tamed rather convincingly by qualifier Yann Dupuy of France.

The results: Singles (first round): Rohan Bopanna bt Xiao Peng Lai (Hkg) 6-2, 6-2; Yann Dupuy (Fra) bt Gurmehar Singh 6-2, 6-2; Shivang Mishra bt Pathanjali Ravishankar 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-0; Vinod Sridhar bt Kamala Kannan 6-0, 6-3; J. Vishnu Vardhan bt Anjan Viplav 6-3, 6-3; Jaco Mathew bt Tushar Liberhan 5-7, 6-4, 6-2; Stephen Mitchel (RSA) bt Nitin Kirtane 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4); Ashutosh Singh bt Varun Walia 6-2, 5-7, 6-2; Dmitri Makeev (Kaz) bt V. M. Ranjeet 7-5, 6-0; Vishaal Uppal bt Saketh Sai Myneni 6-3, 1-6, 7-5; Vijay Sundar Prashant bt Luke Campbell (GBR) 7-6 (7), 6-3; Vijay Kannan bt Tetsuhiro Yamamoto (Jpn) 6-3, 6-0.

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Arjun Goutham and Aditya Madkekar bt Dmitri Makeev (Kaz) and Varun Walia 6-3, 7-5.

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