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Tennis
By Kalyan Ashok
Eighth-seed Gilles Elseneer of Belgium, who beat the fourth-seeded Ivo Heuberger (Switzerland), winds up for a forehand return in their Indian Oil Servo-ATP Challenger-2003 semifinals in Bangalore on Friday.
Harsh was defeated but not disgraced. He gave it his best but it wasn't enough to stop the hard hitting Frenchman. Carraz survived a dozen double faults. Mankad, played the way he did in the earlier rounds, without putting pressure on himself. He hit solid returns, but there were couple of points that swung the other way and made a huge difference. All credit must go to the Carraz, ranked No.15 back home and 151 on the ATP list. He was in a hopeless situation in the second set, trailing 4-5 and 0-40. However, he pulled through with some tenacious tennis and at this level, one never rally gives up, as Harsh would acknowledge. Carraz's string of double faults began with the very first point of the match. Harsh, who began on a strong note with some clean volley winners, quickly broke Carraz in the third game. Two double faults put Carraz down at 15-40 and lucky net cord point, with the ball, hitting the tape and rolling across, saw Harsh take the break. Carraz hit right back in the fourth as Harsh hit two returns over the baseline and netted a backhand. Harsh, despite the setback, volleyed with precision, unleashed a few aces and matched his six foot rival stroke for stroke. Carraz at times lived dangerously, with double faults and mishits. But he was able to pull in some big points when it mattered. The set rolled into a tiebreak and quickly swung Carraz's way. Harsh slumped to a 2-5 deficit and simply had no escape route after that. In the second set, Harsh had a tough time holding his serve. In the third game as he was pushed to three deuces, but recovered to play some classy shots. Carraz, who was struggling with his first serve, found himself on the brink at 15-40 with a double fault. Harsh netted to make it a deuce and Carraz despite two more double faults, weathered the storm with Harsh finally punching a return out. With the set score tied at 4-all, Harsh held serve for a 5-4 lead and then came a golden chance in the 10th game. He held three set points with Carraz down at 0-40. But Carraz despite his shaky first serve packed enough power in the second and Harsh made mess of his returns at this crucial stage. At deuce Carraz belted an out of the world backhand volley that screamed past a stranded Harsh. Harsh then slammed out the next return. The two predictably held serve in the next two games. In the tie-breaker Carraz raced to a 5-2 lead. Harsh, in a last ditch stand, made it five all and a lucky net cord return, saw Harsh keep abreast at six all. He, however, hit his next return out to put Carraz on match point and the Frenchman made hammered an ace to seal his spot in the final. "I had problems and I was under a bit of pressure because it was the semifinals. Harsh played a good game and he is a dangerous player and I don't think anyone can take him lightly. I was able to hit winners when it mattered and despite double faults, I had a fair share of success with second serves. It came good especially in the second set when I was totally down in the 10th game. It was close,'' said the Paris based Frenchman, who hails from a small town near the French Alps. "Yes, the altitude here also helped my game,'' he added. For Carraz it his second final of a Challenger series this season. "It was a good match and pretty close. Few points just separated us. May be I should have taken the second set with those chances in the 10th game, but he had strong second serve and was able to pick up some big points when it counted,'' said Harsh. Carraz takes on eighth seeded Belgian, Gilles Elseneer, who downed the fourth seed, Ivo Heuberger at 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. Elseneer breaking his rival in the fifth, rolled to a 6-3 win in the first set. But Heuberger, hit back with his strong first serves and hard hit returns. He gave no quarter to his 184th ranked Belgian rival and swamped him at 6-1. But the tie tilted Elseneer's way again and facilitated his maiden entry into a Challenger final. "I hope to keep this form and it has been a good tournament for me so far," he said. The Indian challenge ended in the doubles also. The French duo Rodolphe Cadart and Carraz defeated Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna 7-6 (11-9), 6-1. The finals starting at 3 p.m. will also aired live by Doordarshan. The results: semifinals (Indians unless specified - prefix indicate seedings): singles: 2-Gregory Carraz (Fra) bt Harsh Mankad 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (8-6); 8-Gilles Eleseneer (Bel) bt 4-Ivo Heuberger (Swi) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. Doubles: Yves Allegro (Swi) & Jean Francois Bachelot (Fra) bt Noam Okum (Isr) & Arvind Parmar (G. Br) 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5); Rodolphe Cadart & Gregory Carraz (Fra) bt Prakash Amritraj & Rohan Bopanna 7-6 (11-9), 6-1.
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