Yuki to take on Gajjar in ITF tournament final (Lead)

Yuki Bhambri overcame a stubborn Vishnu Vardhan 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4) to get into the final of the $15,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) at the DLTA complex here Friday.

Vishnu, however, made up for the singles loss later in the day when he accompanied Divij Sharan to upset top seeded pair of Rohan Gajjar and Purav Raja 6-1, 7-5 and win the doubles title.

Yuki, who did not drop a set in the tournament before facing Vishnu, was stretched to limits, but the Delhi youngster pulled out all the stops to come out winner in the nail-biting clash.

Yuki, winner of the last two ITF events at the venue in April-May, will take on friend and doubles partner Gajjar in the title clash Saturday. Sixth-seeded Gajjar beat Ashutosh Singh 6-3, 7-5 in the second semi-final.

In the hot and humid weather conditions, Yuki showed the mental toughness and stamina to slug it out in a three-setter. The 16-year-old countered Vishnu's pace with tenacity and came out with aces to bail himself out from tight situations.

The junior Australian Open champion, who had defeated the 21-year-old from Andhra in straight sets in the second ITF final here in May, looked set for an encore with a break in the second game and sprinted to a set lead.

Vishnu, serving big and cutting on the unforced errors, bounced back in the second set and when in the tenth game, Yuki netted an easy forehand volley after a forehand error, it was a set each.

Both the players served big in the decider, pinning down each other with aces. The set went into the tie-break where it was Yuki who was trailing 3-4. But Vishnu's serve cracked under pressure and he committed two doubles faults in a row to tilt the scale in Yuki favour.

The youngest of the Bhambri sibling then comfortably closed out the match when a forehand return from Vishnu found the net.

"I am happy the way I played today. He (Vishnu) is always a tough opponent. But those two double faults in the tie-breaker were the turning point of the match. That's what pressure does to you. He was acing before that," said Yuki, who will be turning 17 Saturday.

"I feel it was I who dictated the first two sets. But I made some errors in the passing shots and also a few errors while volleying. A casual approach while hitting the forehand volley in the second set done me in," Yuki admitted.

"But my serve was coming good and it made my job easier," he said.

Gajjar, who took out the top seed from Japan Kento Takeuchi Thursday, raced away with the first set, breaking Ashutosh in the fourth game.

But a rash of unforced errors from Gajjar allowed Ashutosh to come back in the second set, breaking the sixth seed in the second game for a 2-0 lead. But Gajjar broke back immediately and then held his serve to make it 2-2. The 24-year-old then broke Ashutosh in the eleventh game before serving out the set and the match.

Yuki leads Gajjar 2-0 in head-to-head clash, having beaten him in straight sets in both the previous ITF tournaments here.

Last updated on Jul 3^rd, 2009 at 19:36 pm IST--IANS