The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Uppal makes semifinals

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Friday, Sep 23, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Uppal makes semifinals

Vijay Lokapally

GURGAON: Vishal Uppal's court craft upset Peter Clarke to an extent that the latter showed no inclination to fight in the second set and crashed out of the ITF Satellite tennis tournament at the NTA Complex here on Thursday.

Uppal won 7-6(4), 6-2 to set up a semifinal clash with Kazak Alexey Kedriuok, the lone foreigner to survive on a day when the weather was merciful and the tennis engaging. Kedriuok eliminated Vijay Kannan 6-2, 6-2.

Karan Rastogi maintained his impressive march with a 6-3, 6-1 result over Clement Rosseau of France. In the semifinal, Rastogi will meet Divij Sharan, who outgunned Aditya Madkekar 7-6(2), 6-2.

Uppal was a worthy winner of a contest that he dictated all the way. The first set tested his resilience but his display in the second carried Uppal past a highly temperamental Clarke, who was not a good advertisement for the game with his boorish behaviour on court.

Having run Uppal close in the first set, Clarke, seeded top, ran out of wits when it mattered. He was clueless against a clever change of tactic by Uppal, who showed excellent touch and presence of mind during the big points. Uppal's controlled game upset the rhythm of Clarke, who was unsettled by his opponent's short returns.

Clarke's reputation took a beating as he struggled to match Uppal's dominance at the net. Serve and volley was Uppal's forte and the restless Clarke saw his game disintegrate rapidly as he flung his racquet a few times in disgust and eventually succumbed to frustration. Unable to engage Uppal in rallies, Clarke gave up too early in the second set, conceding easy points by hitting wayward to hasten his exit. Uppal was superior on this day and brought his immense experience into play to make the most of an erratic rival.

At the adjacent court, Rastogi gained by attacking relentlessly from the backcourt, his power game leaving Rosseau clueless. Rastogi moved very well and never eased the pressure to pack off the inconsistent Frenchman.

The results (quarterfinals): Singles: Vishal Uppal bt Peter Clarke (Irl) 7-6(4), 6-2; Karan Rastogi bt Clement Rosseau (Fra) 6-3, 6-1; Divij Sharan bt Aditya Madkekar 7-6(2), 6-2; Alexey Kedriuok (Kaz) 6-2, 6-2.

Doubles: Pathanjali Ravishankar and Vinod Sridhar bt Kiran Nandakumar and Arjun Goutham 6-1, 6-1; Mustafa Ghouse and Vishal Uppal bt Dmitri Makeev and Ranjeet Virali Murugesan 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3; Kamala Kannan and Vijay Sunder Prashant bt Benjamin Dracos and Clement Rousseau 6-1, 6-4; Vijay Kannan and Alexey Kedriouk bt Divij Sharan and Gurmehar Singh 6-3, 6-2.

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