Fifth-seeded Yuki Bhambri defeated fourth-seeded Kento Takeuchi of Japan 7-5, 6-2 in the final of the $15,000 ITF men’s Futures tennis tournament in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei, on Sunday.
It was the eighth Futures singles title for the 21-year-old former world No.1 junior, who had won the Fergana Challenger in Uzbekistan last year.
Languishing at 593 on the ATP ranking list, Yuki had set out to play the Futures to bolster his rank, and had made the final of a similar tournament at the same venue last week, when he retired after splitting two sets against Liang-Chi Huang of Chinese Taipei.
Rain had played havoc with the schedule and Yuki — who had won the Australian Open junior title, finished runner-up in the Youth Olympics and been ranked World No.1 junior — had to negotiate many matches in a short span in singles and doubles last week. However, travelling with his trainer Nasir Ahmed, Yuki has been able to take care of his physical fitness quite well, subsequently improving his results.
He has collected 42 ATP points over two weeks, including 27 for winning the title on Sunday.
He will play the qualifying events of Challenger after a brief halt back home.
