Sport - Tennis   

Enev cruises to title

By Kamesh Srinivasan

Bulgaria's Tudor Enev, the winner of the ITF men's Futures championship in Lucknow on Saturday. — Photo: R.V. Moorthy

LUCKNOW JAN. 11. Tudor Enev of Bulgaria defeated Satoshi Iwabuchi of Japan 6-2, 6-2 to clinch the title in the $10,000 ITF Futures tennis tournament at the Oudh Gymkhana Club here on Saturday. In a surprisingly one-sided match, the fifth-seeded Bulgarian won in 57 minutes.

It was the second title at this level for Enev, who had won all his matches comfortably except the semifinal against Harsh Mankad, this week. The biggest strength for the Bulgarian was his athleticism, and the 20-year-old was quick to reach the drops of the crafty left-hander and countered them with return drops that rarely found a reply.

The 387th ranked and third-seeded Japanese, was not at his best this day. He made too many unforced errors especially at the net when he faced breakpoints. Thus, it was no surprise that Iwabuchi was broken six times in the match, though he had started well by breaking the Bulgarian in the first game.

In the second set also, Iwabuchi broke back in the third game after being broken in the second set, but he lacked the zeal and the energy to make a fight of it this day.

``I expected a tough match. It is unbelievable that I have won so easily. I am very happy'', said Enev, who had won his first Futures title in Macedonia two years ago.

``I couldn't push myself, both physically and mentally. He didn't make any mistakes. Today wasn't a good match for me, but I am happy with the way I played in this tournament'', said the 27-year-old Iwabuchi, who had assisted the Japanese Davis Cup team for about six years till 2000.

The stocky left-hander, Iwabuchi had won three titles at the Futures level, including one in Australia in April last year. He said that he would play Challengers in Hawaii and the U.S. after the second Futures next week in Delhi.

``It is a great start for the season, and I hope to improve my ranking sufficiently to play the Wimbledon qualifying event. It is still a long way ahead'', said Enev, ranked 492nd in the world.

It will be a totally different ball game over the next two weeks in Delhi and Jorhat, as the events will be played on synthetic and clay courts respectively. That is the challenge at this level, to be at your best despite the changes in the playing conditions.

In the doubles final, the second-seeded pair of Peter Handoyo and Suwandi Suwandi of Indonesia regaled the sparse gathering with their fluent game, beating Satoshi Iwabuchi and Dong Hyun Kim 6-4, 6-3. The winners collected 12 ATP points and the runners-up eight points.

The results (finals):

Singles: Todor Enev (Bul) bt Satoshi Iwabuchi (Jpn) 6-2, 6-2.

Doubles: Peter Handoyo & Suwandi Suwandi (Ina) bt Satoshi Iwabuchi (Jpn) & Dong Hyun Kim (Kor) 6-4, 6-3.

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