Sport - Tennis

Matsui to meet Udomchoke in final

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

CHIKMAGLUR: Toshihide Matsui continued his giant-killing spree by defeating top-seeded Hyung Taik Lee of Korea 7-6(6), 6-4 to storm into the final of the Coffee Cup ATP Challenger tennis tournament at the Centenary Stadium Courts here on Saturday. In the title round, he will clash with second-seeded Danai Udomchoke of Thailand.

The see-saw battle between Hyung, who struggled to find his rhythm and Matsui, who just kept plugging away, finally eased into the latter's pocket with a sense of an anti-climax.

Matsui who had to struggle and sweat for each and every point, found his last four in a jiffy while

leading 5-4 and serving for the match. A superb backhand winner, a service return that wedged into the net, another serve and volley winner, and the final thrust — a booming serve, barely retrieved by Hyung that elicited Matsui's winning backhand.

"This is my best victory," Matsui said. It may not have been a pretty win, with every point proving to be a slugfest, but it was indeed satisfying for the psychology student. Hyung, ranked 109, had earlier been a top-100 player for five years and in 2003, he had even gone up as high as 52.

"I came into this match without thinking about him being a top-ranked player. I just wanted to play some challenging tennis," added the 347-ranked Matsui, and it was evident all through the game as he muttered his "come-ons" and persevered while Hyung's game withered away.

Slow off the blocks

Matsui had a nervous beginning as he lost serve in the very first game. "It happens to me always when I play higher ranked players. In the initial games I get nervous," he later revealed.

And with Hyung holding serve in the next game and finding the lines with his groundstrokes, Matsui seemed set for a long haul. But, things changed in the eighth game when Matsui broke back to draw level at 4-4. Matsui scored winners with his service-returns to ground Hyung.

In the second set, Hyung began to struggle with his serves, though he managed to hold onto them until the ninth game in which his errors proved costly. Eventually, Matsui served out the match.

Meanwhile, Danai Udomchoke won the second semifinal against third-seeded Yen Hsun Lu of Taipei 4-6, 6-4, 2-2. Hsun Lu conceded the match in the third set unable to cope with the sweltering conditions. Lu had troubled Udomchoke in the first set before losing his way in the second and his eventual withdrawal in the final set.

However Lu, after recovering from his fatigue, did take to the courts later in the day and teamed up with Udomchoke in the doubles final against Thailand's Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana. The Thai pair was in supreme form and won easily 6-3, 6-2.

It was the sixth ATP Challenger title for the twins from Bangkok. The duo won the winners prize cheque for $1,550 besides bagging 50 ATP points while the runners-up gained $900 and 35 points.

The results:

Singles (semifinals): Toshihide Matsui (Jpn) bt Hyung Taik Lee (Kor) 7-6(6), 6-4; Danai Udomchoke (Tha) bt Yen Hsun Lu (Tpe) 4-6, 6-4, 2-2 retired.

Doubles (final): Sanchai Ratiwatana (Tha)/Sonchat Ratiwatana (Tha) bt Yen Hsun Lu (Tpe)/Danai Udomchoke (Tha) 6-3, 6-2.

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