Yuki tames Kadhe, Nagal loses in Tata Open
PUNE: Yuki Bhambri asserted his class over a promising Arjun Kadhe even as young Sumit Nagal’s ATP World Tour debut ended in a tame defeat at the Tata Open Maharashtra here.
Bhambri, country’s topranked singles players, outplayed wild card and local boy Kadhe 6-3, 6–4 in the opening round of the event. He will now fight it out with eighth seed Frenchman Pierre-hugues Herbert, who battled past Marco Cecchinato 7-6 (4), 6-7(2), 6-2 in a gruelling season-opener.
Nagal’s unbeaten streak of seven matches was halted by fellow qualifier Ilya Ivashka as the Indian bowed out with a 3-6, 3-6 defeat in his first round.
Nagal, ranked 223, came into the match after winning the Bengaluru Open and two qualifying matches here for his maiden ATP World Tour event. He struggled to contain unforced errors against the Belarusian, placed seven places below him.
Kadhe had nothing to lose and went for his shots but uncon- trolled aggression did not trouble the Delhi lad. Bhambri maintained a tight control over the proceedings with his superior game.
He returned everything Kadhe threw at him and found some superb winners.
Bhambri, ranked 118, broke Kadhe in the third game only to drop his own serve in the next but wrested back the initiative with another break in the fifth.
The fearless approach of Kadhe, who returned to Pro cir- cuit after doing graduation from University of Oklahoma only this year, though was appreciated by local fans who kept chanting his name in the battle between the two Indians.
Kadhe packed a lot of power in his backhand but Bhambri did not give him many short balls to take advantage.
In the entire first set, Bhambri lost only four points on his serve. Kadhe, serving to stay in the set, served three double faults in the ninth game and handed the set to his rival by hitting a forehand long on the second set point.
JEEVAN-BOPANNA BEAT PAES-RAJA
Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan’s remarkable progress as a doubles player came to fore as he and Rohan Bopanna began the defence of their title by knocking out Leander Paes and Purav Raja.
The left-hander from Chennai, the youngest of all four at 29, came out firing on all cylinders as they beat their unseeded rivals 6-3, 6-2 to progress to the quarterfinals.
Jeevan, now ranked 102, stood out with his well-calculated lobs and precise strokeplay, making a huge difference to the outcome of the match. In the second set he lost only one point on his serve.
In contrast, Raja could not hold his serve even once in the entire match while Paes did his bit but that was never enough.
The pressure was straightaway on Paes-raja pair as the latter dropped serve in the fourth game. However, they got the break back when Bopanna served in the next.