Before I say anything about the match, I want to assure everyone at TennisIndia of one thing. The near future of Indian Tennis is definitely getting into good hands. I can vouch for it as I saw a couple of those hands in action today.
Karan played very sensible Tennis at LA ATP Q1 today to beat Cakl in straight sets and setup a date with Dimitry Tursonov for tomorrow. His performance was very clinical. He pretty much stuck to the basics and kept things really simple. Get the first serves in, send the ball back and put it in the right place, wait for the opponent to make mistakes, grab any chance and every chance that comes your way, believe in yourself and keep cool and most important of all...while facing a break point, play as if your life depends on that single point. He did all these things from the word go till the end, without losing an ounce of focus. He was just amazing today. Nothing spectacular, no fancy shots, but pure basic Tennis.
He definitely went into the match with an advantage of having spent a good week practicing with Harsh. Also his good show at Tarzana qualies, even though he lost in the 3rd round, meant that he has decent amount of matches under his belt.
1st set 6-3
Game 1: When I made it to the courts, Karan was serving and the score was 15-30. He invited me to the match with a nicely placed ace to make it 30 all, but Cakl's return winner on the next serve saw him staring at a break point in the very first game of the match. Karan covered the court east to west on the next point to save the break point and won the next two to take the game (1-0)
Game 2: Cakl wins at 30 (1-1)
Game 3: Karan holds at 15 (2-1)
Game 4: Cakl started the game with a huge serve, but Karan duly returned it for a spectacular winner (0-15). On the next point, they both got into a rally duel that ended as a result of an unforced error from Cakl (0-30). Cakl got the next point, when the referee over ruled a call for out from the linesman to make the score 15-30. Cakl awarded Karan his first and only break point of the set by screwing up on an easy volley (15-40). Karan was not in a mood to let go any chance and with a nice placement, forced Cakl to hit it wide off a back hand cross court. (3-1) !!!
Game 5: With the aid of a couple of big forehand winners, Karan wins the game at 15 (4-1)
Game 6: Cakl holds at 15 (4-2)
Game 7: Karan holds at 15, finishes the game with an approach to the net and hitting a well placed volley (5-2)
Game 8: Cakl holds the game at 30, with a couple of winners and an ace (5-3)
Game 9: Karan got the first two points and approaches the net on the third point and hits a forehand volley to go 40-0 and 3 set points. Hits the tape on a forehand corsscourt shot (40-15). Duly pockets the set with an ace down the T. (6-3) !!!
2nd set 6-4
Game 1: Karan was receiving in the near court towards the stands and sitting right behind him in the first row was his trainer for this week, Mike. He was really instrumental for Karan's performance today and was shouting out loud encouraging things to pump up our guy. Right on the word go in this set, Mike started prepping Karan mentally from courtside by saying things like "Let's go, right now"....."push yourself harder"....."get this one, right here"....and Karan was duly responding with big shots and superb placements. A minute later, he broke Cakl at love !!! (1-0)
Game 2: Karan started his first service game of the second set literally from where he was left in the last service point of the first set. Yes, he started it bang with an ace, just the way he ended the first set
Holds his serve at 30 (2-0)
Game 3: Cakl holds at 30 (2-1)
Game 4: A couple of unforced errors from Karan gave Cakl his first break point chance in set# 2. The only flaw I could see in Karan so far in this match was, he was having trouble putting his down the line shots in...either side. Not sure if this is his Achilles heel or he isn't getting these today. Will have to ask him tomorrow. Hope it just wasn't working for him today. 2 unforced errors from Cakl and a superb cross court backhand winner from Karan saw him crawl back to hold on. (3-1)
Game 5: Karan hit a couple of winners to make it to Deuce. Cakl got an ad-in with a huge service winner. Next point saw Karan running like hell and covering the court like a mother bear with cubs protecting her territory. He retrieved the ball twice from near impossible positions and hit a lob once. He ended the point by making an unforced error on his forehad, which could easily have been a clean winner. Cakl holds. (3-2)
Game 6: This game, once again, saw the speed and coverage of the court of Karan. Hits a couple of winners to hold at 30. (4-2)
Game 7: Cakl lead 40-0, but Karan is attacking his opponent in every possible way and forced the score to Deuce. With the help on ace and a forehand down the line winner, Cakl manages to hold. (4-3)
Game 8: This game was the highlight of the match. Karan's fighting qualities and temperment came to the core and a gamut of his emotions were on display and it really revealed his character. Fittingly enough, this also happened to be the longest game of the match with 20 points. 2 winners and as many unforced errors from Karan got the scores tied at 30 all. Karan, then, served his first double fault of the match to hand Cakl another break point. Next point saw a 20+ shot rally, the longest one in the match. Towards the end of it, Cakl approached the net and Karan hit a lob. Cakl was able to run back just in time to reach it, but screwed it up by hitting an ambitious over the head smash which ended up landing on his side of the net to bring up the score to Deuce. Karan double faulted again to stare at saving another break point. Hits a huuuuuuge serve for a service winner (Ad-in). Made an unforced error trying to hit a crosscourt backhand that went wide (Deuce). Another big serve for a service winner (Ad-in). Cakl caught Karan on the wrong foot and hit a nice volley for a winner (Deuce). Karan came up with another big serve for a service winner (Ad-in). Cakl hits an unbelievable winner, forehand down the line (Deuce). Karan makes another unforced error to give Cakl one more chance to even the score (Ad-out). On the next point, the referee declared one of Cakl's shots out by over-ruling the linesman. This one clearly was in
Cakl picks up an argument with the referee, but in vain. Score is back to Deuce. Karan hits another huge serve for a service winner. Cakl seemed really upset with that call and clearly played this point with vengance. He moved Karan all over the court, made him run back and forth and finally hits a winner deep into the Ad court. Back to Deuce. Another big serve resulted in a servie winner for Karan. Cakl hit an unforced error on the next one, while returning a nicely placed second serve from Karan. In this game, Karan saved 3 break points and came up with big serves when he needed them badly. This game literally was a dog fight and as soon as he won it, Karan pumped his fists and vent it all out with a big "come on..." We have rarely seen such a character in Indian tennis. We need sportsmen like Karan who show their emotions the rightway. (5-3) !!!
Game 9: Cakl holds at 15 with an ace. (5-4)
Game 10: Cakl was still looking upset with the disputed call in game 8. Karan started to serve for the match with a big ace down the T, followed by a service winner. He made unforced errors to get the scores to 30 all. But comes up with 2 big serves and winners to nail the coffin. (6-4) !!!
Here are some statistics of the match (may not be 100% accurate, but very close):
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Points won:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
KR TC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Set 32 21
2nd set 43 38
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Match 75 59
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------
1st serve percentage:
----------------------------------------------
KR
----------------------------------------------
1st Set 20/30 = 66.67%
2nd set 29/48 = 60.41%
----------------------------------------------
Match 49/78 = 62.82%
----------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------
Aces:
----------------------------------------------
KR
----------------------------------------------
1st Set 2
2nd set 3
----------------------------------------------
Match 5
----------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------
Double Faults:
----------------------------------------------
KR
----------------------------------------------
1st Set 0
2nd set 2
----------------------------------------------
Match 2
----------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------
Break point conversions:
----------------------------------------------
KR
----------------------------------------------
1st Set 1/1 = 100%
2nd set 1/1 = 100%
----------------------------------------------
Match 2/2 = 100%
----------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------
Break points saved:
----------------------------------------------
KR
----------------------------------------------
1st Set 1/1 = 100%
2nd set 4/4 = 100%
----------------------------------------------
Match 5/5 = 100%
----------------------------------------------
Net points won: 3/3 = 100%
It truly was amazing to see what Karan was able to do with the right people like Harsh and Mike around him. Harsh is a fellow pro and nothing should be expected of him. But to have an entourage of his own in the form of a coach/trainer would do a world of good for a lad who holds a lot of promise like Karan. Mike has very good things to say about him and like all of us he too was hoping that Karan would get noticed for his performance and get someone to sponsor him. This is the right time and age for him and any such opportunity will not only do a world of good for Karan but would also change the face of Indian tennis.
Playing these qualies, it is just unbelievable to see Karan rubbing shoulders with the likes of Philippousis, Bjorkman et al. Yes guys, they both are in the qualies. In fact, Mike talked to Bjorkman to get some tips on how to tackle Tursonov, he being one of Dimitry's victims (JB lost to him at Queens). All JB had to say was, he really hits the ball hard on both the flanks...damn real hard. That's all. Karan has his task cutout and I hope he keeps his form going. He has nothing to loose and should play as fearlessly as he did today. If he does, we very well may see an upset and the biggest win yet of his budding career.
Good luck, Karan.
- Varma
