India’s Saketh Myneni defeated the fourth-seeded Korean Suk-Young Jeong 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to lift his third ITF Futures title at the Indian Oil Servo ITF men’s Futures tennis championships here on Saturday.
The second-seeded Saketh was off to an impressive start, as has been the case throughout the tournament, winning the first set 6-3. However, his first serve percentage dipped in the second set as the Korean broke Saketh twice.
Unlike the semifinal, his stomach didn’t seem to bother him, but at 0-5 down, the second set seemed clearly out of sight. But Saketh staged a mini comeback by breaking Suk-Young. Though the Korean took the second set with a superb cross court forehand pass, Saketh’s fight back had begun.
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He was back in his groove, with both his serves and approach shots landing perfectly. Employing his sliced backhand to good effect, Saketh notched up a 4-2 lead.
He broke for one last time in the match to put himself on the threshold of victory at 5-2. However, he had to wait a little longer as Suk-Young won two consecutive games.
The Indian served for the match for a second time and he triumphed on his first Championship point.
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Saketh later admitted that it was tough to play both the doubles and the singles on five consecutive days with his stomach not helping matters. It remains to be seen if he can recover sufficiently before the next tournament that starts on July 30.
The results: Singles: Final: Saketh Myneni bt Suk-Young Jeong 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.