India’s Yuki Bhambri and Ramanathan Ramkumar will fight it out for the title in the KPIT-MSLTA $50000 Challenger at Mhalunge-Balewadi sports complex on Saturday.
While Bhambri got the better of Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 6-2, 6-4, the No. 2 seed from Spain, in an hour and 39 minutes, Ramkumar scored his maiden win against Myneni as a professional on the ATP tour.
In the semifinals, Ramkumar won 6-2, 6-3 against a not-so-fully-fit Myneni in 47 minutes.
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Bhambri had come into the semifinals with a confidence-boosting straight-set wins over Kaichi Uchida, Ante Pavic and Jay Clarke.
He had also beaten the Spanish opponent on clay in 2015 in the Samarkand Challenger in Uzbekistan.
In the circumstances, the odds were stacked against the highly temperamental Maceiras. He held his first two service games, but double-faulted at the start of his third and lost three more points on the trot for Bhambri to break and take the lead.
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There was no looking back as the Indian clinched the first set 6-2.
In the second set, the two served well in the first two service games, but long rallies marked thereafter with Bhambri having a tough time winning two games of his serve.
His opponent too was in a plight conceding five match points in the ninth game, but after frittering away those chances, Bhambri held the tenth comfortably to win his fourth match without dropping a set.
Third final
After entering the third Challenger final of the year, Ramkumar said: “It’s always difficult to play Saketh. No matter where you play, it’s tough to play him.
“He has the skills, volleys and touch. Had he got a break, he would have pushed himself a bit more. Every point matters when you play him.”
Ramkumar felt getting an early break in the first set mattered a lot. “It kept the momentum going.”
The results: Semifinals: Yuki Bhambri bt Adrian Menendez-Maceiras (Esp) 6-2, 6-4; Ramanathan Ramkumar bt Saketh Myneni 6-3, 6-2.
Doubles: Pedro Martinez and Adrian Menendez - Maceiras (Spain) bt Saketh Myneni and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 6-4, 6-4.