$15K+H ITF Futures, Chennai (March 21)

[Kumar]

Heartbreaker for Bofors

This game was taking place at the same time as KR… So was not followed as well !!!

First set – Nothing much to write here.. Bofors was just on a roll and whitewashed Capkovic.. who was having difficulty with his second serve.. 6-0 Bofors

Second set –
Bofors was broken in the first game .. But came right back to break Cap in the fourth game to even the set at 2-2 apiece… Bofors was still serving well and had two aces in the fifth game to take 3-2 lead… Cap changes shirt to see if his luck will change.. And change of shirt seemed to work as he held serve comfortably.. After a DF and couple of errors Bofors was down a BP in 9th game.. But with an ace was able to stave off one BP But DF at another BP proved to be turning point of the match as Bofors was broken again, Cap taking 5-4 lead.. Then the game of the match .. With cap serving, this game went to 6 deuces and Cap saving two BPs !!! After six deuces, Cap closed off this game to take the second set 6-4..

Third Set
After breaking Cap in the fourth game, BP took a 4-1 lead into 6th game.. But in the 7th game, Bofors was broken again to fritter away the advantage.. 4-3.. After hold of serve, Bofors was in big trouble again in the 11th game serving 3 double faults in a row leading to BP.. He later attributed to wind on one side of the court, due to which his toss for the kick serve was really affected.. But he fought back to take the game to deuce and hold of serve… Cap easily held serve to take this game to Tie breaker

Tie Breaker
Cap really dominated the Tie breaker with Bofors looking very tired !!! And won the Tie break 7-2 to take the match 06, 64 76(2)..

Bofors was done in by his lack of match practice.. But still a great show from Bofors for getting couple of wins under his belt… After the match Bofors took an hour rest and came back fully reacharged to get a doubles win... He seemed happy with his performance (though little disappointed that he couldn't close the deal)

Capkovic has very good serve when it is falling (lot of DFs too) and would be a tough opponent for Karan…

[jaydeep]

Another superb report Kumar ... Yes Rohan failed becoz of lack of match practice ... But he performed quite well ... And as Jay mentioned he will be very dangerous floater in B'lore draw ... Wishing him good luck for doubles title.

Karan's doubles loss understandable considering how much he played in last few days ... Hopefully he will be recover in time for tomorrow's match.

Jaydeep.

[kiran r more]

The guys who were saying Indian mens tennis is on the death bed,should wake up.Harsh is playing at his peak,Prakash is on his way up,Rohan is back, and then Karan is now showing why he is called the future of Indian Tennis.As once it was mentioned in the forum,the transition in Indian ladies tennis is complete,with Sania and Shikha peaking and Neha also coming along well.Now the transition in Mens tennis is on the way.Leander will be very happy that he now has four good players to bank upon.

Jay,as for comparing Karan and Sania,I fully agree with you.Sania was very consistent through out her junior career and now at this level.Karan was not that consistent,for whatever reasons.But the fact is Karan had better results than Sania,as far as quality tournaments and opponents were concerned,at the junior level.As I had already mentioned once, I have been following the growth of these two best Indian Players for a long time and you will be surprised to know that they have almost an identical growth pattern,--Sania always took the first step,then Karan took a bigger step,then Sania took a leap,and then Karan took a bigger leap.It has been going on for the last 6 years.I am in the process of preparing a comparison of these two ,because I love these two kids.Sania is already very much on her way to the top.And ,if my analysis is correct,Karan will catch up with her ,by the end of 2006.

[jayakris]

ITF's official score spreadsheet says RB lost 46 in the 3rd set and not in a tiebreaker! .. Wonder what was up with that .. Jay

[Kumar]

4 was the score from Karan's match.. They probably got it mixed... But I can give you iron-clad guarantee that it went to Tiebreaker.. We should get confirmation from Hindu shortly...

[jayakris]

OK, I am sure Puneet Gupta (ITF supervisor at Chennai) would correct it later... You could mention to him, just in case he has not noticed.

Jay

[PKBasu]

Fabulous performance by Karan to beat the rising star Istomin. Karan is now playing very much like Sania was in June-August last year. This was always destined to happen to this hugely talented player, and I'm delighted that he's living up to the potential we've seen in him for years. (Ofcourse he has fulfilled some of this potential before, notably two years ago -- but this time his arrival looks more secure and sustainable!).

And what a marvellous, clinical demolition by Harsh. He too is playing at a considerably higher level now, and I hope it will show in the rematch with Delgado, who will certainly be under some psychological pressure.

The real story though is the emergence of the new centre of Indian tennis excellence: Mumbai. Both our semifinalists at Chennai are Mumbaikars. When I met Harsh and his team in Mumbai in January, he and Karan were constantly SMS-ing each other, trying to tie up various practice opportunities. Good to see the two friends doing so well together here!!

And thanks again, Kumar, for amazingly good reporting.

[BSharma]

First of all, thanks Kumar for your superb reporting.

Congratulations to Harsh and Karan for their victories.

Keep your chin high, Bofors. Your time is coming soon. Hang in there.

[PKBasu]

Hey, there's nothing for RB to be ashamed or disappointed about. He won the first set 6-0, showing just how explosive his game is at the moment. After such a long injury lay-off, his stamina probably needs a bit of slight fine-tuning, but his form seems scintillating.
And he's in the doubles final too!!

[BSharma]

I agree with PKB. That is why I asked Kumar to ask Bofors about his physical conditioning and what steps is he planning to get into match fit condition (similar to Harsh).

[Kumar]

HELP!!!

I may not be able to post the scores immdly after the single match (until late evening)... If any of you have a mobile phone in india, who has an easy access to internet, please give me your mobile number.. so that I can pass on the scores.. You can send me a PM message with your mobile number for privacy reasons. ..

Thanks for the help...

[jaydeep]

Kumar ur SOS heard by all Indians ... And all r sending their cell no.s ... So now u decide whom to send updates ... Cheers.

Jaydeep.

[jayakris]

How about this? .. Mankad in the final baybee ...

[SF] Harsh Mankad (IND,299) d. Jamie Delgado (GBR,224), 75 30 (Ret.)

YYESSIRR!!!! .. That was the first match. HM just called to tell us. Very nice of him. Sounded excited!

Jay

[jayakris]

That is 16 ATP points for Harsh .. point total up to 131 (as he loses 5 points on Apr 4th, as PKB reminded me) .. Enough for around #285 .. One more win (8 more pts) and he goes inside top-275.

Hope Karan follows with a win in the other semi too ...

Jay

[a15]

Woke up from my sleep...and you beat me to it! Thanks for the post!