The Hindu : Sport : Error-prone Youzhny scrapes through

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Thursday, Jan 03, 2008
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Sport

Error-prone Youzhny scrapes through

Nandita Sridhar

‘The courts did not play very fast’

— Photo: M. Vedhan

CLOSE CALL: Mikhail Youzhny struggled to beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the second round.

Chennai: Russian Mikhail Youzhny’s idea of on-court thrills was far removed from the norm. The match had its thrilling moments solely by way of inexplicable patterns. The tennis was largely below par.

For the first five games of the match the fourth seeded Youzhny’s tennis was — and one’s being charitable — awful. He redeemed himself thereafter with seven straight games that clinched him the first set and saw him through the match. His tennis was fuelled by adrenalin and had its share of manufactured drama, courtesy fist-pumps and celebratory grunts.

Youzhny got the better of Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5, 1-6, 6-2, in his second round of the Chennai Open ATP tennis championship, on Wednesday.

Roger-Vasselin, who had defeated Indian Wildcard Vishnu Vardhan, did what was required of him in the first five games: show up and get racket to ball.

Youzhny’s groundstrokes flew out, the backhand proved a liability, and the serve let him down. “The courts did not play very fast,” said the fourth seed.

With a game that benefits from surface-speed, Youzhny had too much time on his hands.

Roger-Vasselin, ranked 97, unearthed the odd inventive winner. Playing a largely reactive role in the first set, he managed just three points in six games, after the first five.

The second set panned out with errors piling on. Those brave enough to attempt making sense of it all resigned themselves to an ugly decider. In comparison, the decider was sane, a little more predictable, and showcased better tennis.

“I never thought I would lose or anything. It was a tough match. I could not maintain the level I wanted to achieve. I hope I will be more consistent in the next match. I need to start playing my normal game, which is important,” said the Russian.

Prakash loses

Indian wildcard Prakash Amritraj fritted away three match-points in his 3-6, 6-4, 6-7(8) loss to qualifier Alexandre Kudryavtsev late on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old Amritraj struggled in the first set, especially with his returns. He found his bearings in the second, with the volleys working better. The quick-tempered Kudryavtsev was frustrated with the Indian’s aggressive tactics in the decider. The 24-year-old attacked the net repeatedly, and showed remarkable hands for his volleys.

The third set tiebreak was thrilling. Unfortunately for Prakash, his net-play proved a double-edged sword, procuring him match-points and proving fatal as well. He attempted one volley too many, which signalled the end of the match.

The results: second round:

Singles: Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5, 1-6, 6-2; Florent Serra (Fra) bt Kristof Vliegen (Bel) 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (3); Xavier Malisse (Bel) bt Jurgen Melzer (Aut) 7-6 (3), 6-2.

Tuesday’s results: First round: Alexandre Kudryavtsev (Rus) bt Prakash Amritraj (Ind) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(8). Carlos Moya (Esp) bt Teimuraz Gabashvili (Rus) 6-4, 6-1; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Esp) bt Alexander Peya (Aut) 6-4, 6-4; Rajeev Ram (US) bt Yuri Schukin 7-6(6), 7-6(2); Nicolas Mahut (Fra) bt Denis Gremelmayr 6-3, 6-3.