The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sweet revenge for Sugiyama

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 02, 2004

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Sweet revenge for Sugiyama

By Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI, JULY 1. Top-seeded Norikazu Sugiyama of Japan won the ITF Satellite tennis circuit, taking an unassailable lead in the Masters event at the DLTA Complex here on Thursday.

Sugiyama beat the third seed Joshua Goodall of Britain 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals to take his circuit tally to 60. The Japanese lad, looking for his second singles title on the professional circuit following the one here last week, will take on Pakistan's Aqeel Khan on Friday. He has assured himself of 42 ATP points, including a bonus of eight, for winning the circuit.

The 474th-ranked Japanese is set to jump into the top-350 and possibly become the No. 3 in the Japanese list behind Takao Suzuki (205) and Gouichi Motomura (230).

It was a revenge victory for Sugiyama who had lost to Goodall in three sets in the quarterfinals of the first leg, and the Briton went on to clinch the title.

Sugiyama proved too good today and hardly put a foot wrong while beating the strongly-built Goodall who committed too many unforced errors. The Japanese broke the Briton in the first game of the match and maintained the tempo to cruise to victory in about an hour and 20 minutes.

Goodall had to be content with 25 ATP points, and may get an additional four bonus points for finishing second in the circuit if Sugiyama prevails in the final.

In the other semifinal, Aqeel showed that he had learnt many tricks on the circuit. He displayed maturity to outplay the erratic Ajay Ramaswami. The 24-year-old Aqeel won 6-4, 6-4 in about an hour and a half, serving and stroking with consistency. He broke Ajay in the first game and saved breakpoints in the eighth to gain a stranglehold over the match.

In the second set, Aqeel broke Ajay in the ninth game after an exchange of breaks in the first two and romped home without fuss.

Incredible run

For someone who has been playing only Davis Cup matches for the last five years and for someone who had won only one ATP point on the professional circuit, Aqeel has played way beyond expectations, including his own.

"When I came to the circuit, I hoped to win one or two matches and get a few ATP points. After the first week, I was keen to win one match so that I could qualify for the Masters. With two semifinals and a final now, I am thrilled. People back home who are following my performance know that there is also Aqeel in Pakistan tennis, apart from Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi,'' said Aqeel.

Aqeel's circuit tally of 46 would get him 25 ATP points and a bonus of four for the second position. If he emerges victorious on Friday, he will gain six more points and this would propel him into the top-600 from practically nowhere.

In contrast, Sugiyama will be playing for only an additional ATP point while Ajay ended up with 13 points. Ajay, of course, had the consolation of winning the doubles honours in the circuit, as he and Vishaal Uppal gathered 43 ATP points each, including eight bonus points. That should help them break into the top-300 in the world.

Ajay-Vishaal duo triumphs

Ajay and Vishaal won the Masters title, their third in a row, with a straight-set victory over Saurabh Kohli and Jaco Mathew in an entertaining final.

The results:

Singles (semifinals): Norikazu Sugiyama (Jpn) bt Joshua Goodall (GBR) 6-2, 6-4; Aqeel Khan (Pak) bt Ajay Ramaswami (Ind) 6-4, 6-4.

Doubles (final): Ajay Ramaswami/Vishaal Uppal bt Saurabh Kohli/Jaco Mathew 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.

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