The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Below par Lee enters semifinals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 29, 2006

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Below par Lee enters semifinals

Kalyan Ashok

DHARWAD: As the event entered the crucial last four phase, there was a dip in the quality of play in the PVG Cup ATP Challenger tennis championship at the Dharwad District Tennis Association courts here on Friday. The top seed, Hyung-Taik Lee of South Korea, entered the semifinals despite playing below his best and was joined by the hard hitting fourth seed Lukasz Kubot of Poland.

It took Lee, the 29-year-old Korean Davis Cupper, ranked 103, 95 minutes to defeat fifth seed Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 7-5, 7-6 (2). Neither produced great stuff, but Lee was more consistent. He also made only 37 unforced errors to Istomin's 57.

The Uzbek, forced off the circuit for nearly two years after a car crash in Tashkent in 2001, is trying to make a comeback but is yet to get into a top condition at this level. He played well in patches but had a bit of a problem with his first serve as the match progressed.

The Korean broke Istomin in the fifth game but the Uzbek broke back in the 10th game when Lee sent a volley over the sideline. Istomin, however, lost his grip with a couple of unforced errors and dropped serve again in the 11th game. Lee then stayed cool and served out the set.

Istomin's troubles were far from over at the start of the second set. He was stretched to five deuces before he held on. Though he took a 3-0 lead, he squandered that advantage by losing serve in the seventh. From then on, both seemed to go on the defensive, waiting for the other to blink first. But neither did and set headed into the tiebreaker. Istomin began with a double fault, then began slamming wide and finally surrendered the set and match with another double fault.

Lee satisfied

Lee was quite satisfied with his show. "Guess it wasn't too good, but not too bad either. I am happy with the way I am returning and I have now grown accustomed to the weather here," he said.

The Ratwatana twins from Thailand once again made it to the doubles final as they demolished the Ukranian pair of Istomin and Orest Tereschuk 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals. The other semifinal proved a heart-breaker for the Indian pair of Karan Rastogi and Ashutosh Singh. The duo went down to Kamil Capkovic and Lacko Lukasz of Slovakia 6-1, 6-7(3), 14-12. In the decider, which was a super tiebreaker, the Indian pair led 6-0 before losing ground.

The results (semifinals): Singles: Hyung-Taik Lee (Kor) bt Denis Istomin (Uzb ) 7-5, 7-6 (2); Lu Yen-Hsung (Tpe) bt Go Soeda (Jpn) 6-3, 6-3; Lukasz Kubot (Pol) bt Philip King (U.S.) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; Viktor Troicki (SCG) bt Kamil Capkovic (Svk) 6-1, 6-3.

Doubles: Sanchai & Sonchat Ratiwatana (Tha) bt Denis Istomin & Orest Tereshchuk 6-4, 6-2; Kamil Capkovic & Lacko Lukasz (Svk) bt Karan Rstogi & Ashutosh Singh (Ind) 6-1, 6-7(3), 14-12.

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