The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Ashutosh advances

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Ashutosh advances

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Ashutosh Singh sprung a surprise getting past third-seeded Hyun-Woo Nam of Korea 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the pre-quarterfinals of the Central Bank $15,000 ITF men’s Futures tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Wednesday.

Focussing more on his doubles at the Challenger level these days, the former National champion Ashutosh had put his singles on the backburner. Perhaps, the lack of pressure to perform has proved a blessing in disguise as he has been able to play his best.

Ranked 1297, Ashutosh showed that his all-round game was much better as he fought his way past the strong Korean who looked to have given up in the third set, in an energy-sapping exercise that lasted two hours and 15 minutes.

There may have been a physical problem for the Korean, ranked 605, as he stopped moving to the ball midway through the match, but it remained a mystery as he never asked for a medical time out.

Ashutosh fought an even battle in the first set when the Korean was bouncing with energy, but he dropped serve in the eighth game after saving five breakpoints.

Into the second set, Ashutosh controlled the flow with early breaks as he ran up a 4-1 lead and never lost his grip thereafter. He will challenge the reigning National champion V.M. Ranjeet in the quarterfinals.

Entertaining contest

Nam was the only seeded player to crash out before the quarterfinals. Top-seeded Kento Takeuchi of Japan was matched very well by Vivek Shokeen. In an entertaining contest, it came down to patience, and Takeuchi had the experience to do justice to his game and reputation.

Yuki Bhambri stopped qualifier Ashwin Vijayaraghavan for the loss of three games, and will meet Divij Sharan who stroked past another former National champion Purav Raja in straight sets. Rupesh Roy will challenge second-seeded Vishnu Vardhan in the fourth quarterfinals.

The results: Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Kento Takeuchi (Jpn) bt Vivek Shokeen 7-6(5), 6-4; Rohan Gajjar bt Vikram Reddy 6-0, 6-2; Ashutosh Singh bt Hyun-Woo Nam (Kor) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; V.M. Ranjeet bt P.C. Vignesh 6-3, 6-2; Divij Sharan bt Purav Raja 7-6(1), 6-2; Yuki Bhambri bt Ashwin Vijayaraghavan 6-1, 6-2; Rupesh Roy bt Ronak Manuja 6-4, 6-4; Vishnu Vardhan bt Vijay Kannan 6-4, 6-3.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Rohan Gajjar & Purav Raja bt Nitten Kirrtane & Ronak Manuja 3-6, 6-4, 13-11; Vivek Shokeen & Ashutosh Singh bt David Baxendine (GBR) & Kamala Kannan 6-4, 6-1; Vijayant Malik & Navdeep Singh bt Mithun Murali & Vijay Sundar Prashanth 6-4, 4-6, 11-9; Divij Sharan & Vishnu Vardhan bt Sriram Balaji & P.C. Vignesh 6-1, 6-3.

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