Russian Ivan Gakhov has made the Spanish city of Elche his base for the last four years, and that probably explains why he is at home on clay. His quarterfinal opponent Saketh Myneni, on the other hand, had not won a single match as a pro on the surface prior to the MCC-S.R. Subramaniam ITF Futures tournament here.
On Thursday, the Russian fifth seed, though not at his best, managed to beat the top-seeded Indian 6-3, 7-6 (1) to enter the semifinals.
The eighteen-year old now meets V.M. Ranjeet, who outlasted Antoine-Michel Alexeev 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to go through.
Second seeded Sriram Balaji reached the semifinals after Yannick Thivant retired complaining of cramps in the third set, with the Indian leading 2-1.
Sriram will take on No.4 seed Vijay Sundar Prashanth, who drubbed Matias Franco Descotte 6-1, 6-0.
Myneni’s serve, usually his forte, refused to fire, and his baseline game was scratchy. But he did put up a fight, saving five match-points in the second set: one on his serve at 4-5, and four more in the 12th game.
However, Gakhov dominated the second-set tiebreak from the baseline and shut out the top seed.
Ranjeet and Alexeev engaged in a tough back-court battle. After Ranjeet led 4-1 in the third set, the Swiss broke back with a series of winners in the seventh game.
Ranjeet, however, regained the advantage in the following game, and then held serve to seal the match.
The results:
Quarterfinals: V.M. Ranjeet bt Antoine-Michel Alexeev (Sui) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth bt Matias Franco Descotte (Arg) 6-1, 6-0; N. Sriram Balaji bt Yannick Thivant (Fra) 4-6, 6-2, 2-1 (retd.); Ivan Gakhov (Rus) bt Saketh Myneni 6-3, 7-6(1).
Doubles semifinals: Chandril Sood & Lakshit Sood bt N. Kaliyanda Poonacha & P. Vignesh 6-4, 6-3; Sriram Balaji & V.M. Ranjeet bt Anvit Bendre & Akash Wagh 6-2, 6-4.