The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Yuki on the verge of glory

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Yuki on the verge of glory

NEW DELHI: Yuki Bhambri stepped closer to his second successive title as he raced past qualifier Weerapat Doakmaiklee of Thailand 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals of the $15,000 ITF men’s Futures tennis tournament here on Friday.

In another fine exhibition of quality play, the 16-year-old World No.1 junior, Yuki maintained his impressive streak of not having dropped a set in nine successive singles matches at this level.

There was a minor threat to the record when the stocky 21-year-old Doakmaiklee broke Yuki for a 4-2 lead in the second set, but the wiry Indian lad stepped up his game so well that he conceded a mere five points to the Thai after that. .

It will be the ultimate challenge for Yuki when he faces the top-seeded Raven Klaasen of South Africa in the final on Saturday.

In the doubles final, the third-seeded Divij Sharan and Vishnu Vardhan proved too good for Tushar Liberhan and Punna Vishal.

The results:

Singles (semifinals): Raven Klaasen (RSA) bt Vishnu Vardhan 6-3, 6-4; Yuki Bhambri bt Weerapat Doakmaiklee (Tha) 6-1, 6-4.

Doubles (final): Divij Sharan & Vishnu Vardhan bt Tushar Liberhan & Punna Vishal 6-1, 6-3. — Special Correspondent

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