On Thursday, second seed Roberto Bautista Agut, when asked about his impending match against Mikhail Youzhny, said, “I’ll make him run, I’ll put more and more balls in play. If he wants to win, he has to fight.” However, for more than a set and a half, it was the Spaniard who was left high and dry, down a set and a break, and had to literally rise from the dead to beat Youzhny 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 and enter the semifinals of the Aircel Chennai Open on Friday.
From 1-4 down, Agut reeled off five consecutive games to even it at one set all. Then the final set played out as a microcosm of the preceding two with both players trading early breaks and then staving off break points before the capricious match finally settled in Agut’s hands.
It also soothed many an exasperated spectator who, having mostly witnessed the familiar trope of a top seed reaching the business end, were staring at the possibility of having four unseeded players in the semifinals. Agut’s opponent will now be Frenchman Benoit Paire, who handed a crushing 6-3, 6-0 defeat to Aljaz Bedene. The other semifinal will be between Dudi Sela, who beat third seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and Daniil Medvedev, who overcame qualifier Jozef Kovalik.
In fact, the first match of the day between Sela and Ramos-Vinolas showed how lightweight the draw had become in the absence of Borna Coric and Marin Cilic. Not necessarily in terms of the quality of tennis, but in the measure of familiarity for the fans. Sela was the semifinalist here in 2010. But much of the crowd was stationed at the outside courts cheering for Kovalic, the giant-killer. However Sela, the journeyman, went about his job in his typical unhurried manner.
All of 5-foot-9, he makes do with excellent court coverage what he lacks in power. Against the Spaniard he maximised this. Whenever pinned to a corner, he sliced and moon-balled into the far corners, giving himself the necessary time to get back to position.
It also helped that Ramos-Vinolas himself was no trigger-happy player choosing instead to construct points patiently. Sela served with great precision and his one-handed backhand was almost always successful whenever summoned.
Last-year semifinalist Pairewas full of flair against a visibly-tired Bedene. The usual dose of maverick shots first started with a tweener, remarkably executed not with his back to his opponent but while facing him.
After breaking to go 3-1 up, his subsequent hold contained arguably four of the best points he has played all week. Two terrific drop shots, a whipped cross-court forehand, and an off-balance back-hand winner all in a single game pointed to his improved focus. In the second set, he was at his ruthless best conceding just six points on the way to a bagel.
Later Purav Raja and Divij Sharan entered the final with a convincing win over second seeds Guillermo Duran Andres Molteni (Arg) 6-4, 6-2.
