Fazaluddin overcomes Srinath

By Our Sports Reporter

CHENNAI, DEC. 26. In a battle between two Davis Cuppers, Syed Fazaluddin defeated Prahlad Srinath 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in a quarterfinal encounter of the Indian Oil-Servo all-India invitation tennis tournament at the Krishnan Tennis Centre courts, here, on Tuesday.

In another last eight clash, Saurav Panja knocked out the second- seeded Vijay Kannan 6-2, 6-2, but the Fazaluddin- Srinath duel was easily the best contest of the day.

A serve and volleyer by nature, Fazaluddin was forced to play more from the back of the court due to the windy conditions, and did adapt well, producing some telling backhand winners in the process. After fortunes had swung either way early on, Fazaluddin achieved the crucial break of serve in the 10th game to take the first set.

However, Srinath, unleashing some fine backhand passing shots and returns himself, came roaring back in the second, Fazaluddin's serve coming under the hammer in the ninth game.

It was Fazaluddin all the way in the decider though, with the Calcutta player jumping to a 5-0 lead, before Srinath finally managed to win a game. It was too little, too late from the man from Mysore.

In the other quarterfinal matches, Vijay Kannan found Saurav Panja too hot to handle, going down 2-6, 2-6, Vinod Sridhar quelled a spirited challenge from Rishi Sridhar in the second set 7-6 (7-5), after winning the first 6-3, and Harsh Mankad blew away Vishal Uppal 6-2, 6-0.

In the semifinals on Wednesday, Vinod Sridhar meets Syed Fazaluddin, while Saurav Panja takes on Harsh Mankad.

The results (quarterfinals): Vinod Sridhar (TN) bt Rishi Sridhar (TN) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); Syed Fazaluddin (WB) bt Prahlad Srinath (Kar) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1; Saurav Panja (WB) bt Vijay Kannan (TN) 6-2, 6-2; Harsh Mankad (Mah) bt Vishal Uppal (Del) 6- 2, 6-0.

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