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Haenle’s good run continues

Special Correspondent

Uzakov loses his cool, bangs his racquet thrice
Indian presence in doubles continues

MUMBAI: Pirmin Haenle, the 20-year-old German, is happy picking up points and pulling down opponents at the MSLTA-ITF Men’s Futures in Mumbai.

Ranked 821 and getting into the main draw as a lucky loser, he maintained composure and momentum to defeat Uzbekistan’s Vaja Uzakov 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Uzakov lost his cool after losing service games and ended up at the wrong end of the scoreline. He banged his racquet thrice, cracking it in the process. “I don’t like to do this. Whatever was in my mind came out on court," said the Uzbek, carrying forward $350 fine from the earlier week in Malaysia. No new fine has been levied on him at Mumbai, as per information from ITF supervisor Nitin Kannamwar.

Focussed

Haenle focussed on his own game and did not get distracted by Uzakov’s bursts of anger. “When players do such things, it shows that he is losing control. I don’t play this way," said the German.

“I’m getting better with each day, feeling energetic and enjoying myself on the hard courts. My serving has improved, so has my shotmaking."

The Indian presence in doubles continued with three out of four entries in the semifinals, including top seeds Rohan Gajjar and Purav Raja. Mithun Murali and P. Chandrasekhar, Divij Sharan and Vishnu Vardhan are the other Indian pairs in the fray.

The results (quarterfinals):

Singles: Pirmin Haenle (Ger) bt Vaja Uzakov (Uzb) 6-4, 6-4; Nathan Thompson (USA) bt David Sodek (Cze) 7-6 (1), 6-2; David Savic (Srb) bt Syrym Abdukhalikov (Kaz) 6-1, 6-2.

Doubles: Rohan Gajjar & Purav Raja (Ind) bt Daniel Lustig & David Sodek (Cze) 6-4, 6-4; Mithun Murali & P. Chandrasekhar (Ind) bt Alexander Satschko & Marc Andre Stratling (Ger) 5-7, 6-0, 10-4; Divij Sharan & Vishnu Vardhan (Ind) bt Kamala Kannan & Vishal Punna (Ind) 6-3, 6-2; David Savic (Srb) & Nathan Thompson (USA) bt Arjun Goutham & Aditya Madkekar (Ind) 6-4, 6-1.

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