Fourth seed Sanam Singh struggled a bit midway through before scoring a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over a fighting second seed Prajnesh Gunneswaran in the men's singles final of the LMW – ITF Futures tournament at the Perks Tennis Centre here on Saturday.
It was Sanam's maiden visit to Coimbatore. “I am happy it turned out to be a lucky one for me,” said the Chandigarh youngster after his win.
It was windy right through but Sanam was not blown away by his opponent's big serving skills. He had the killer serve as well but it was his ability to consistently cut down the pace of the ball that saved the day for him.
Chennai's Prajnesh, on the other hand, gunned down quite a few aces at the start of the first set and earned the applause of a packed house. But he stuttered a bit when it mattered most.
In the fifth game, Prajnesh double-faulted and Sanam smelt the chance (40-30) to break his opponent. He did that with a stinging double-handed backhand return, which the former placed it into the net.
Sanam confidently carried on from there and enjoyed another break in the ninth to seal the set 6-3.
In the second set, Prajnesh rallied from 0-40 down to upset the calculations of Sanam in the first game. A close line call also worked in his favour. He then held his own serve, though with much difficulty, to go up 2-0.
In the fifth game, Sanam double-faulted twice and Prajnesh stepped on the accelerator. He came up with some crisp returns to gain the advantage for another break. But the former, who looked a bit frustrated and was even served a code-violation warning for throwing the racquet, hung on to win the game.
Prajnesh earned another chance in the ninth game to have a go at his opponent. He had two set points but Sanam saved the situation. He gained one more but, this time around, gave no room for his opponent to enter and took the match into the decider much to the delight of the crowd.
The final set was equally fought between the players. They preferred to rally from the baseline but with total control and power. And just when the match seemed to go the tie-breaker way, Sanam had Prajnesh in a spot of bother in the ninth. He propelled his game and hit a couple of forehand winners to take a 5-4 lead.
Sanam further fired three aces and it was all over for Prajnesh from there.
“After a bit of lapse in the second set, I did a lot of running. The conditions were very tough. It was very windy and both of us were finding it difficult to hit the ball. It was a scrappy match but I am happy to have won it,” said Sanam.
Later, Sudesh Reddy of Sucharita Precision Gears Pvt. Ltd gave away the prizes.
The results (final)
Singles: Sanam Singh bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
