By IANS,
New Delhi : Andhra Pradesh’s Vishnu Vardhan won his maiden International Tennis Federation title with a clinical 6-4, 6-2 demolition of Rohan Gajjar in the $15,000 Central Bank tournament at the DLTA complex here Saturday.
Gajjar, who took out top seed Kento Takeuchi of Japan in the semifinals, lost his second final in successive weeks, having been beaten by Yuki Bhambri last week.
Second-seeded Vishnu, who goes 2-1 up head-to-head against Gajjar, made it a double, having won the doubles with Divij Sharan Friday.
Vishnu, a semi-finalist in the first ITF, held the advantage with his big serve and deep, powerful ground strokes. Gajjar also served well, but the rhythm was missing and he faltered at big points.
A missed backhand volley by Gajjar on the second break-point handed Vishnu the ninth game of the first set, but the latter could serve it out only on the fourth set point after two double faults stretching the game.
The match was in Vishnu’s grip when he broke Gajjar in the fifth game of the second set with a superb forehand pass. As Vishnu served in the next game, Gajjar looked sick and threw up on court. Gajjar continued, but dropped his serve again to hand the set and the match to Vishnu.
The win could not be more sweeter for Vishnu as it came after a heart-breaking loss to Yuki in a close semi-final clash last week. Also, he had to rally from a set down to win the the semi-final against Sharan Friday before playing the doubles final.
“The loss against Yuki left me emotionally drained, it was such a close match. But I am glad I did not allow it to affect me. I played today just the way I would have played my first round. It is my first ITF tournament title and it means a lot to me,” said Vishnu, who with the win has earned 25 ATP points and $1950.
“I was tired because of heat towards the end and so was Rohan. But I kept pushing myself. Next, I would either play a Futures in Iran or a Challenger in Uzbekistan. But my next target is a Challenger.”