Saturday, February 19, 2022
Bengaluru, Feb 19: It could not have been a better treat for the tennis buffs who had turned out in good numbers at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association. The victory by an Indian doubled their joy as Arjun Kadhe joined hands with Austrian Alexander Erler to win the doubles title in the Bengaluru Open 2 ATP Challenger here on Saturday. The top seeded pair defeated the third seeded Indian duo of Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-3, 6-7 (4), 10-7 in the final after the latter had gone into the match with the tag of defending champions.
Meanwhile in the singles semifinals, top seed Aleksandar Vukic halted the run of last week’s finalist Borna Gojo of Croatia with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory. In the title clash, the Australian will meet Bulgarian Dimitar Kuzmanov, who scripted an epic comeback victory against third seeded Frenchman Enzo Couacaud 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Enzo seemed to be in better control of the situation than his opponent when he earned two breaks in the first and third games to go 3-0 up before his serve was broken. The opponents broke each other in the next two games before Dimitar held his serve and earned a break in the next game to restore parity at 4. However he lost his serve again while Enzo held his to win the first set.
Enzo, all but had sealed the match while leading 5-3 in the second set. Gojo not only saved two match points but came back into the match roaring by winning four games on a trot, including breaks in the 10th where Enzo double faulted twice and the 12th game. Enzo’s trouble with serve was clearly visible during the end of the second set and continued in the decider as he made two more double faults in the fourth game as Dimitar took a decisive 4-1 lead after holding his serve in the next. Enzo won the next two games to reduce the margin. However, Dimitar played some exquisite low angled shots that had the crowd in roars and broke Enzo’s serve in the eighth game before serving out for a place in the final.
Earlier, in the first last-four encounter, Vukic looked in top form as did Gojo as the rivals kept up a fast-paced games. The only thing that separated them was the consistency in the serves, which Vukic did with aplomb while dishing out 11 aces without a single double fault. After both had held their respective serves, Vukic came close to breaking Goyo’s serve in the fifth game when he was up 40-15, thanks to two doubles faults by Goyo, who committed a total of eight in the match. Without any breaks by either of the players, the set went into a tie-breaker, where Gojo succumbed 5-7 even after holding a 5-3 lead. In the second set, a break in the fourth game was all Vukic needed to eventually close out the set and match.
Results Singles (Semifinals) 1-Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) bt Borna Gojo (CRO) 7-6 (5), 6-3; Dimitar Kuzmanov (BUL) bt 3-Enzo Couacaud (FRA) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Doubles (Finals) 1-Alexander Erler (AUT)/Arjun Kadhe (IND) bt 3-Saketh Myneni (IND)/Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) 6-3, 6-7 (4), 10-7.
