ATP Singapore 2021

[PKBasu]

In the second set upto 6-6, Yuki won 68% of second serve points, a huge improvement. (His first serve was yielding less: 57% points won!).

[PKBasu]

Tiebreak all even until 3-3, but Yuki gives up a minibreak on the 7th point. 3-4
Ebden wins both his service points. 3-6
All over, Yuki is mini-broken again. 3-7

[arjun2761]

Despite loss, looks like a solid challenger level performance by Yuki. Certainly, a lot better than I was expecting. While Ebden is also coming back up in the rankings, he got to the second round in the last ATP tournament beating #84 in the first round and losing a close 3 setter to #74.

[PKBasu]

[R1] PR-Yuki Bhambri (IND, UNR) l. Matthew Ebden (AUS, 316; career-high 39, Oct 2018) 36 67(3)

Yuki played like a high-level Challenger player (i.e, like someone ranked around 120) in the second set. In the first, he was clearly rusty, but found his game late in the second set. Had he broken earlier in that set, he might have had a chance. The weak serve is usually a disadvantage in tiebreakers, and that proved to be true here too.

[Rajiv]

More than a decent performance from Yuki , didn't look like he was away from the game for over 2 years the way he played this match, with a little bit of luck could have pushed the match to the decider.

Coming back from Injuries ..Prakash did it , Somdev did it , So the same way , Yuki should head back and play all the 4 Futures in India , not only vital points , but so very important to get his confidence and game to his previous level.

On a side note , having been away from the game for long , Yuki seems to have lost the equipment suppliers , T shirt was without any logo , Racket didn't have the Babolat logo on the Gutting.

[sameerph]

Yes, pretty decent performance by Yuki considering that his was his first match after 2 years. If he continues this way, his game will be back to his pre-break level after playing a few tournaments.

[PKBasu]

Purav/Ramkumar got a walkover in the doubles, so we still have a couple of pairs (one and a half, technically) in the doubles QF. Albot/Duckworth didn't show up, so Yuki/Jeevan's slot eventually went to Eubanks/Kwiatkowski, who are on court currently against Ebden/Smith.

[PKBasu]

Both our pairs will be in action at noon in Singapore (9:30am India) today. Purav/Ramkumar play the top seeds on Centre Court and Balaji/Margaroli play Hernandez/Martinez on Court 1.

[jayakris]

On a side note , having been away from the game for long , Yuki seems to have lost the equipment suppliers , T shirt was without any logo , Racket didn't have the Babolat logo on the Gutting.

I believe Babolot did stick with him. I saw an article where he was saying that it was great that they continued the racket contract while he lost a lot of other sponsorship during the layoff.

[Dinesh]

Both our pairs will be in action at noon in Singapore (9:30am India) today. Purav/Ramkumar play the top seeds on Centre Court and Balaji/Margaroli play Hernandez/Martinez on Court 1.

I’m predicting at least one of our pairs will go through to the next round. Balaji/Margaroli should be able to at least stretch it to 3 sets.

[Rajiv]

On a side note , having been away from the game for long , Yuki seems to have lost the equipment suppliers , T shirt was without any logo , Racket didn't have the Babolat logo on the Gutting.

I believe Babolot did stick with him. I saw an article where he was saying that it was great that they continued the racket contract while he lost a lot of other sponsorship during the layoff.

Yes he was wielding a Babolat , but the suppliers are very particular for the visibility of the logo , which Yuki did not not have, led me to assume that the racket contract too has gone , Maybe it could be a case of stringer not having the template ( which is extremely rare , as it is must for the stringers and other players are using the onsite stringer with proper logo visible) or maybe the support from even Babolat too has gone, as the racket clearly did not have the required logo on the strings.

[PKBasu]

Both our pairs are down a break, at 4-5 in the first set, with the opponents serving for the set

[jaydeep]

Happy to see Yuki on the court, and he performed above expectation in his first match in 2 yrs ... Agree with Rajiv, that Yuki needs to play the Indian futures leg for more match practice and building momentum for a wining habit ... But knowing Yuki, we can't predict anything ..

[PKBasu]

Both our pairs lost the first set 4-6. But Balaji/Margaroli have taken a 4-0 lead in the second set, while Purav/Ramkumar are on serve at 3-2 in the second set.

[PKBasu]

Balaji/Margaroli won the second set 6-2 (despite Margaroli being broken in the 5th game), and will go into the STB now.

It is 5-4 on serve (opponents serving to save the set) in Purav/Ramkumar's match.