Arjun Kadhe's fight-back came pretty late in the match and by then China's Gao Xin, the top seed, had settled in quite well.
Gao put all his might, as he always does for every point, to quell a strong resurgence from the Indian to script a 6-3, 7-6(2) win in the boys' final of the Asian closed junior tennis championships at the SDAT-Nungambakkam Stadium, here on Saturday.
Earlier, Gao, partnering Yuki Muramatsu of Japan, clinched the doubles title.
The 15-year-old Rutuja Bhosale trounced Ratnika Batra 6-1, 6-4 to bag the girls' crown. The boys' and girls' singles winner and runner-up got 180 and 120 ITF points respectively.
After losing the first set, Arjun, the second seed, hit peak form in the second after being 5-3 down.
Serving for the match, Gao must have been surprised by the way Arjun attacked from the baseline.
“Where was this game in the first set,” one was tempted to ask. Arjun broke the Chinese in the ninth game on his third break point and maintained the momentum with wonderful play from the back-court.
In the 11th game (5-5), Arjun had two break points, but could not convert either of them.
Gao indulged in a bit of gamesmanship in the 11th game, arguing with the chair umpire against a shot by Arjun, which he thought was out. He even asked for chief referee Leena Nageshkar's intervention to sort things out.
Gao, who had appeared to be tired, returned with renewed vigour. The tie-breaker turned out to be one-sided.
Rutuja had a head-start in the first set, breaking Ratnika's serve in the second game. Returning well, Rutuja raced to a 4-1 lead, dominating the Delhi girl in most exchanges.
Rutuja was spot on with her backhand drives, and caught Ratnika on the wrong-foot several times. Ratnika's game improved marginally in the second set as she produced winners on both flanks, but Rutuja was always a step ahead.
“She (Ratnika) wasn't getting her rhythm. I played hard not giving her any chance. But I expected a tough match.
“I am very happy as this is the best victory of my career,” said Rutuja, whose ranking is expected to move into the top-100 from the present 350.
Tamil Nadu Tennis Association Vice-President Karti P. Chidambaram gave away the prizes to the boys' singles winner and runner-up.
The results (finals, Indians unless mentioned): Boys: Singles: Gao Xin (Chn) bt Arjun Kadhe 6-3, 7-6(2). Doubles: Gao Xin & Yuki Muramatsu (Jpn) bt Kelvin Lam (HK) & Siyu Liu (Chn) 6-3, 6-1.
Girls: Rutuja Bhosale bt Ratnika Batra 6-1, 6-4.
Gao put all his might, as he always does for every point, to quell a strong resurgence from the Indian to script a 6-3, 7-6(2) win in the boys' final of the Asian closed junior tennis championships at the SDAT-Nungambakkam Stadium, here on Saturday.
Earlier, Gao, partnering Yuki Muramatsu of Japan, clinched the doubles title.
The 15-year-old Rutuja Bhosale trounced Ratnika Batra 6-1, 6-4 to bag the girls' crown. The boys' and girls' singles winner and runner-up got 180 and 120 ITF points respectively.
After losing the first set, Arjun, the second seed, hit peak form in the second after being 5-3 down.
Serving for the match, Gao must have been surprised by the way Arjun attacked from the baseline.
“Where was this game in the first set,” one was tempted to ask. Arjun broke the Chinese in the ninth game on his third break point and maintained the momentum with wonderful play from the back-court.
In the 11th game (5-5), Arjun had two break points, but could not convert either of them.
Gao indulged in a bit of gamesmanship in the 11th game, arguing with the chair umpire against a shot by Arjun, which he thought was out. He even asked for chief referee Leena Nageshkar's intervention to sort things out.
Gao, who had appeared to be tired, returned with renewed vigour. The tie-breaker turned out to be one-sided.
Rutuja had a head-start in the first set, breaking Ratnika's serve in the second game. Returning well, Rutuja raced to a 4-1 lead, dominating the Delhi girl in most exchanges.
Rutuja was spot on with her backhand drives, and caught Ratnika on the wrong-foot several times. Ratnika's game improved marginally in the second set as she produced winners on both flanks, but Rutuja was always a step ahead.
“She (Ratnika) wasn't getting her rhythm. I played hard not giving her any chance. But I expected a tough match.
“I am very happy as this is the best victory of my career,” said Rutuja, whose ranking is expected to move into the top-100 from the present 350.
Tamil Nadu Tennis Association Vice-President Karti P. Chidambaram gave away the prizes to the boys' singles winner and runner-up.
The results (finals, Indians unless mentioned): Boys: Singles: Gao Xin (Chn) bt Arjun Kadhe 6-3, 7-6(2). Doubles: Gao Xin & Yuki Muramatsu (Jpn) bt Kelvin Lam (HK) & Siyu Liu (Chn) 6-3, 6-1.
Girls: Rutuja Bhosale bt Ratnika Batra 6-1, 6-4.
source : thehindu
