A good run, in a strong field in the $10,000 ITF men’s Futures tournament starting at the DLTA Complex here on Monday, would be an excellent preparation for the second-seeded Yuki Bhambri before he flies to the US Open for the junior event.
Quite interestingly, the 17-year-old Yuki has a tough draw and starts against Tim Bradshaw of Britain. He could possibly be playing the former national champion, the crafty left-hander Vinod Sridhar in the second round, and the smart British player, the fifth-seeded Chris Eaton in the quarterfinals.
Yuki may be just looking at one round at a time, but having won three titles in the last four tournaments at home, apart from making the semifinals in the fourth, he could be expected to have another good run.
The top-seeded Vishnu Vardhan would attempt to improve on his record, following the final appearance last week against the versatile Young-Jun Kim of Korea, who has been seeded third.
While Vishnu starts against a tricky opponent, Vijay Sundar Prashanth, it would be interesting to see whether anyone is able to come close to stopping the fine run of the Korean.
Rohan Gajjar will attempt to set the record straight after an early exit last week, and a clutch of other good players like V. M. Ranjeet, P. C. Vignesh, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, Vivek Shokeen and Ashutosh Singh could make it a lively affair, despite the strong foreign presence.
In doubles, Karan Rastogi returns to the circuit after a 15-month lay-off, following a back surgery. He partners Rohan Gajjar and the duo has a tough first round.
The seedings: 1. Vishnu Vardhan, 2. Yuki Bhambri, 3. Young-Jun Kim (Kor), 4. Kento Takeuchi (Jpn), 5. Chris Eaton (GBR), 6. Rohan Gajjar, 7. Peter Lucassen (Ned) and 8. V. M. Ranjeet.
Wild cards: Vijay Sundar Prashanth, Johnny Arcilla (Phi), Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, Vidhan Vyas.
Quaifying event (second and final round): Vinod Sridhar bt Max Jones (GBR) 6-1, 6-2; Sudanwa Sitaram bt Elbert Sie (Ina) 6-4, 2-6, 0-1 (retired); Jae-Won Choi (Kor) bt Young-Jae Kim 9Kor) 6-3, 6-2; Yew-Ming Si (Mas) bt Ajai Selvaraj 7-5, 6-4; Hyun-Soo Lim (Kor) bt Rohan Gide 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; Seong-Yoon Chung (Kor) bt Prateek Bhambri 6-2, 6-3; Sriram Balaji bt Ankit Sachdeva 6-2, 6-4; Yannick Nelord bt Abhijeet Tiwari 6-3, 6-2.
