Gajjar knocks off top seed, meets Vishnu in ITF final

Rohan Gajjar outlasted top seed Kento Takeuchi of Japan 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5) in a cliffhanger Friday to set up an all Indian final with Vishnu Vardhan in the $15,000 Central Bank International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament.

Second-seeded Vishnu beat fifth-seeded Divij Sharan 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in a rain interrupted first semi-final at the DLTA complex.

It was Vishnu's third consecutive win over Sharan, who Thursday took out last week's winner Yuki Bhambri in a three-setter in the quarter-final. The Delhi left-hander looked well on course for another upset when he broke Vishnu in the ninth game of the match to serve out the first set.

But Vishnu came back with resolve in the second set. Serving big and hitting power-packed groundstrokes, he swiftly took a 4-1 lead, breaking Sharan early in the second game. Sharan had three break points in the seventh game, but Vishnu came back brilliantly to hold on. He then closed the set in the ninth game with an ace.

In the decider, Vishnu, who was a semi-finalist here last week, served strong while Sharan lapsed into a rash of errors. Sharan could not hold his serve even once. The only game he won was by breaking 21-year-old Vishnu's serve.

Later in the day, Gajjar overcame a fighting Takeuchi to enter his second final in as many weeks. The 25-year-old from Maharashtra had earlier beaten the Japanese in the quarter-final last week.

Both the players had their share of unforced errors but it was the Indian who succeeded in restricting them in the later stages of the match.

He broke Takeuchi in the sixth game of the first set but the Japanese broke back immediately to restore parity.

Gajjar then pulled off a decisive break in the tenth game to take the first after a Takeuchi backhand sailed long.

However, the top-seed staged a fightback in the second set, breaking an indifferent Gajjar in the ninth game to make it a set apiece.

In the decider, Gajjar cruised to a 4-1 lead but dropped his serve in seventh game when he double faulted on the break point. The set went to the tie-breaker and it was Gajjar who gained an early edge with a mini-break in the second point. The Indian kept up the momentum throughout the tie-break and sealed the match in his favour with a superb backhand cross-court.

Gajjar said his off season training with trainer Savio D"Souza and coach Mustafa Ghouse is paying off.

"I happy the way I am playing. I worked hard during the off-season and it's showing now," Gajjar said.

Last updated on Jul 10^th, 2009 at 19:33 pm IST--IANS