Date:21/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/21/stories/2008032152122100.htm

Sport - Tennis

Harsh Mankad advances

Special Correspondent

MUMBAI: Harsh Mankad remained the only Indian left in the singles draw of the ITF Futures tournament here, beating Sri Lankan Harshana Godamanne 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals at the Ranade Tennis Centre on Thursday.

In the semifinals, Mankad will play fourth-seeded Nathan Thompson of United States.

Fifth seed Divij Sharan and the talented Purav Raja went out against second seed Hyun-Woo Nam and qualifier Ryan Young respectively.

Mankad, playing on familiar territory at the MSLTA, is on the comeback trail following a knee injury. The 28-year-old is taking one step at a time in the tough task of climbing up the men’s rankings after sliding to 1289 due to a forced layoff from the game.

The win was a demonstration of solid strokeplay and smooth footwork by the Mumbai player who is already in the doubles final, partnering Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan. They edged out Rupesh Roy and Vivek Shokeen 6-4, 1-6, 14-12, after a match-tie-break.

Purav and Rohan Gajjar, the second Indian pair in the doubles final, defeated Danila Arsenov and Uzakov Vaja1 in another encounter that went to the match tie-break.

Purav was rattled by Young’s serves in the singles quarterfinal. Down 1-3 in the first set, the American qualifier fought back to draw level and another service break in the ninth game was enough to swing the set in his favour.

The second set was tighter, but Young kept his cool to ensure there were no setbacks.

The results: Singles: Quarterfinals: Harsh Mankad bt Harshana Godamanne (SL) 6-1, 6-4; Nathan Thompson (US) bt Vaja Uzakov (Uzb) 6-2, 6-2; Ryan Young (US) bt Purav Raja 6-4, 6-4; Hyun-Woo Nam (Kor) bt Divij Sharan 7-6(0), 6-1. Doubles: Semifinals: Harsh Mankad & Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan bt Rupesh Roy & Vivek Shokeen 6-4, 1-6, 14-12; Purav Raja & Rohan Gajjar (Ind) bt Danila Arsenov (Rus) & Vaja Uzakov (Uzb) 1-6, 6-3, 10-7.