Sport - Tennis

Vijay Kannan to meet Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan

— Photo: R. Ragu

A WIN AWAY FROM GLORY: Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan overcame Ochiai Guilherme to enter the final of the ITF Futures tennis tournament.

CHENNAI: Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan will clash with Vijay Kannan in the final of the GNC-KCG ITF Futures tennis tournament at the Gandhinagar Club courts here on Saturday. The last time the two met was in Tiruchi where Jeevan had emerged triumphant.

Eighteen-year-old Jeevan, looking for his maiden Futures title overcame Ochiai Guilherme of Brazil 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 while Vijay, seeded two, rallied past Hsin-Han Lee of Taipei, the third seed, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2 in the semifinals on Friday.

Jeevan required just a break in the sixth game to run away with the first set. The second was different in the way Ochiai approached the game.

The Brazilian started to find holes in Jeevan’s game and managed to hit winners from the baseline at important stages, despite Jeevan having an upper-hand in that department.

Jeevan had the best chance to hit back in the sixth game, especially after losing his serve in the third. He even had a game point, but Ochiai’s persistence paid off and he held serve for a handy 4-2 lead.

None gave an inch in the deciding third set. It was Jeevan’s ability to go for winners and his forehand that separated the two. The Kannan-Lee contest could best be described as one between touch and power. Up a set and leading 4-2 up in the second, Kannan, it appeared, would close out the match sooner than later.

However, imparting a lot of backswing in his shots both on the forehand and backhand side, Lee began his comeback. Many of his shots from the backcourt found the lines. He broke Kannan in the eighth game to level the scores in the second set. Kannan lost a close tie-breaker though he did well to come back from being 4-2 and 6-3 down.

Former National champion Kannan, who last won the Futures in 2004 in New Delhi, chipped and charged to the net at every available opportunity and kept the ball low during rallies so as to make shot-making difficult for Lee and it paid off in the end.

Later in the evening, Jeevan partnering Vivek Shokeen defeated Sriram Balaji and Vijay Sundar Prashanth 7-5, 6-4 in the doubles summit clash. Jeevan is in line for a double having already reached the singles final.

The results: Singles: Semifinals: Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (Ind) bt Ochiai Guilherme (Bra) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3; Vijay Kannan (Ind) bt Hsin-Han Lee (Tpe) 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2. Doubles: Final: Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan & Vivek Shokeen bt Sriram Balaj i & Vijay Sundar Prashanth 7-5, 6-4.