There is something cavalier about Aljaz Bedene’s persona. It’s in the way he approaches the game on court and in the manner he speaks off it. The nonchalance can well be misconstrued as arrogance but on the days when he backs it up with results, there is no better sight.
Saturday was one such day.
After two hours and 42 minutes of marvellous tennis, he beat Spanish third seed Roberto Bautista Agut to become the first qualifier ever at the Aircel Chennai Open to reach the final.
“I am not someone who pushes and waits for the opponent’s mistakes,” he said after the 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(8) win. “And it has worked. So far so good.”
Top seed and defending champion Stan Wawrinka moved into the final with a 7-5, 6-3 win over fourth-seeded Belgian David Goffin.
In Bautista Agut, Bedene had an opponent in the typical Spanish grinder mould. This was evident in the way the third seed pinned Bedene to his backhand through monotonous cross-court exchanges, but shifting position bit by bit till Bedene was almost beyond the tramlines, and forcing the error.
This was a contest that was essentially all about Bautista Agut trying to target Bedene’s backhand and the Slovene finding a way out of it.
“It’s my weaker shot,” said Bedene later. “So they will push me there. So I have to get on to the forehand as quickly as possible and move the opponent. That’s what the game is.”
The start of the match was erratic. There were five breaks of serve in the first six games as Bautista Agut went on to clinch the first set 6-3.
In the second, Bedene went 3-1 up by playing first-strike tennis, changing direction frequently and pulling the trigger with his inside-out forehand.
The two then traded breaks before Bedene’s final two holds — both went to deuce — gave him the set and squared the match.
In the third, Bautista Agut marched ahead 3-1. But, true to the pattern in the previous sets, the set was soon levelled at 3-3.
Bedene had Bautista Agut at 0-30 on the latter’s serve at 3-3 and at 4-4 but fluffed both chances.
Then, Bautista Agut found himself with two match-points on the Bedene serve at 4-5. But a service winner and three aces salvaged the game.
Then, at 5-4 in the tie-break, Bedene had the match on his racquet. But yet again, Bautista Agut clawed back, and earned two more shots at the match. These were spurned too; the second at 7-6 saw a perfectly executed shoe-lace volley hit the tape of the net.
Thereafter, Bedene clinched it on his second match point.
“I am a bit tired,” said Bedene, who has played seven singles matches in the past week.
“But tomorrow will be the last day. I will give it my all.”
