The Hindu : Gajjar proves his growing stature

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 30, 2002

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Gajjar proves his growing stature

By Kalyan Ashok

Unseeded Rohan Gajjar, who upset seventh-seeded Ajay Ramaswamy, makes a forehand return in the quarterfinals of the Stellar-ITF Futures tennis championship at Gulbarga on Thursday. — Photo: K.Gopinathan

GULBARGA Aug. 29. Wildcard Rohan Gajjar and first leg winner, Sunil Kumar, stormed into the semifinals of the Stellar-ITF Futures tennis championship at the M. Chandrashekar Patil Stadium here today.

The two talented Indians achieved victories in contrasting fashion. The 18-year-old Gajjar, playing in his third Futures, entered the semifinals for the first time with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over the seventh seed Ajay Ramaswamy in 117 minutes while Sunil Kumar prevailed 7-5, 2-0 over R. Sichel of Israel after an indisposed Sichel conceded.

Gajjar's win justified his rising stature in the game. He made Rohan Bopanna sweat for victory in the second round in New Delhi and proved that his effort was no fluke, playing with clear focus and controlled aggression.

Ramaswamy, ranked 779, had experience and a solid baseline game on his side, but Gajjar showed enough flair and created openings with a sensible approach. He had Ramaswamy pinned to the backcourt and forced him to concede the big points by hustling him.

However, initially there was a stage when everything looked going Ramaswamy's way. The 22-year-old Mumbaiite, who figured in a Futures semifinal in Canada recently, broke Gajjar in the fourth game of the first set. He jumped to a 40-0 lead on Gajjar's serve before the latter made it 30-40, only to hit a forehand wide.

Ramaswamy then came up with blistering returns to the deep, catching Gajjar off-guard on the backhand side. Gajjar continued to struggle and was taken to four deuces on his serve in the sixth game, before managing to hang on. Ramaswamy stonewalled his rival's effort in the next couple of games and went on to take the set 6-3.

Ramaswamy looked on course as he broke Gajjar effortlessly in the first game of the second set. But complacency and a series of double faults cost him dearly. Ramaswamy made three double faults to drop serve in the second game, opening the door for Gajjar. Playing steadily and showing good temperament under pressure, Gajjar seized another crucial break in the fourth game on way to a 6-3 win in the second set.

Gajjar was on the move in the decider, attacking relentlessly, while a tiring Ramaswamy conceded two quick breaks (third and fifth games) to virtually shut his chances. Gajjar clinched the third set and match 6-3, and promptly called home on his mobile to proudly announce his triumph.

Sunil Kumar's tie against the mercurial Israeli ended when Sichel conceded the tie after trailing 5-7, 0-2. Sichel did look dangerous in the first set as Sunil initially struggled to find his rhythm. He, however, got into his stride with some powerful strokes and hit fluently on both flanks to force a break in the seventh game for a 4-3 lead.

The joy did not last long for Sunil as he dropped serve in the eighth game with a couple of unforced errors. At 5-5, the set looked headed for a tie-breaker before a decisive break came Sunil's way in the 11th game. Sichel double faulted to face breakpoint and Sunil won the game with a superb backhand volley winner.

Meanwhile, Sichel sought medical help as he began hobbling around the court. After a few minutes, he just went through the motions in the 12th game which saw Sunil hold on to his serve comfortably to take the set 7-5.

Sichel's frustration then came to the fore as he flung his racket and cap, cursed himself, before slumping into the chair. After Sunil broke him in the first game of the second set and held his serve for a 2-0 lead, the Israeli had had enough. He walked up to the chair umpire to inform that he was conceding the match as he was `indisposed.'

Vishal runs out of steam

The other Indian in the last eight round — Punna Vishal — looked jaded against the crafty Israeli Eliran Dooyev after the tiring encounter on Wednesday. Though the first set went with serve all the way to the tie-breaker and Vishal won it 7-6 (7-5), Dooyev was playing well from the baseline to keep the Indian on the run. Vishal ran out of stamina and ideas to slump to a 4-6, 0-6 defeat in the next two sets. It was, however, a good outing for Vishal who played here as a qualifier.

Third-seeded Viktor Bruthans is the highest-ranked player left in the fray as the Slovakian scripted a quick 6-3, 6-1 win over Alexey Ageev of Russia.

In the semifinals on Friday, Bruthans takes on Gajjar while Sunil plays Dooyev.

The results (prefix indicate seedings):

Singles: Rohan Gajjar (Ind) bt 7-Ajay Ramaswamy (Ind) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; 3-Viktor Bruthans (Svk) bt Alexey Ageev (Rus) 6-3, 6-1; 6-Sunil Kumar (Ind) bt R. Sichel (Isr) 7-5, 2-0, Sichel concd.; Eliran Dooyev (Isr) bt Punna Vishal (Ind) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-0.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Harsh Mankad/Ajay Ramaswamy (Ind) bt Ajay Chowdapalli/Md Yasser Arafat (Ind) 6-4, 6-4; Sean Cooper/Stephen Nugent (Irl) w/o Roy Sichel/Dekel Valtzer (Isr); 2-Viktor Bruthans/Michal Varsanyi (Svk) bt S. Kanbargimath/Ashutosh Singh (Ind) 6-2, 6-2; Nitin Kirtane/Sourav Panja (Ind) bt Igor Branisa (SVK)/R. Nourmatov (Rus) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

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