Nitin Kirtane checks Klec

By Kalyan Ashok

BANGALORE, MAY 15. Nitin Kirtane and Mustafa Ghouse picked off from where they left in Thiruvananthapuram. Continuing their good showing, the two Indian contenders stormed into the second round with big wins in the Servo-ITF Satellite tennis championship at the Kingfisher McDowell Stadium here on Tuesday.

Nitin stopped the second seed, Ivo Klec of Germany 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 in about 90 minutes while Mustafa Ghouse exacted a sweet revenge against the seventh seeded Chilean Phillip Harboe 6-3, 6-4.

Nitin savoured his win against the big hitting German, who made far too many unforced errors against the Indian southpaw who played with lot of guile and grit. ``It is a big one for me ``, said a delighted Nitin.

Covering both flanks well, Nitin kept a relentless charge with his consistent returns and broke in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead but failed to hang on in the 12th game, allowing Klec square off at six all. The set spilled into tie-breaker, the German had the advantage at 5-4, but Nitin stopped rallied to close the set at 7-6 (7-5).

Having tasted blood, Nitin simply blasted his way past the German, grabbing two quick breaks in the sixth and eighth games of the second set to close the match at 6-2.

Mustafa Ghouse was in a punishing mood against Harboe, who had beaten him earlier in the quarterfinals of first leg at Thiruvananthapuram last week. Ghouse, played effective serve and volley game to keep pressure on Harboe. A break in the eighth game saw Ghouse take the first set and though Harboe played some tenacious tennis in the second, an early break in the fifth game, saw Ghouse prevail at 6-4 in the second set.

A moderate crowd was on hand to watch the new Indian star in the making - Prakash Amritraj, son of the legendary Vijay. If Vijay was all grace, Prakash plays purely with passion and power.

Watched by his father and Indian coach, Nandan Bal, Prakash went down with all guns firing against the seasoned Davis Cupper and the fourth seed, Syed Fazaluddin. Fazal won 7-5, 6-4 but not before surviving some anxious moments against the big hitting Prakash, who was a joy to watch with his uninhibited display.

The 17-year old youngster went for his strokes and served volleyed with power, but what made difference to his fortunes in the tie was his impetuous attitude. He was just a young man in a hurry, which suited the wily Fazal, who snared him into web of errors.

Fazal's game swayed from brilliance to mediocre at times. But then for some one, who had been recovering from a recent injury, it was hard to expect a very consistent game. ''I don't think I was right there playing my best and but nevertheless, I am happy my win today``, said Fazaluddin.

Fazal had a head-start in the first set breaking Prakash in the first game, but Prakash struck back in the fourth game as Fazal put a volley away and then netted another to drop the serve. With the set tied at two all, the two went with serve till the 10th game before Prakash dropped the serve again in the 11th game with a double fault as well. Fazal comfortably closed the set at 7-5.

Fazal forged ahead in the second set with quick break in the third game and looked very much in command from then on while Prakash made quite a few mishits. Despite the pressure of being down, Prakash kept belting away and tied the set at 4-all cracking Fazal in the eighth game. Fazal stayed unfazed and hit back to seize a crucial break in the ninth game for a 5-4 lead and then served out the set and match.

Rishi Sridhar joined Ghouse, Nitin and Fazaluddin in the last 16 round, when he defeated Tjondronegor 6- 3, 6-2. The top seed, John Doran of Ireland survived a first scare to post a 7-5, 6-3 win over Manoj Mahadevan. The lanky Indian was in his elements in the first set, racing away to a 4-1 lead, before Doran opened up strongly on his forehand to turn the tide in his favour.

The third seed Lars Uebel of Germany blasted Tushar Gautham 6-0, 6-0 while another German, Nigri beat Punna Vishal 6- 2, 6-4. Kamala Kannan went down to the eighth seed, Dekel of Israel 4-6, 1-6 while the first leg finalist, Anton Kokurin of Uzbekistan beat Anant Sitaram 6-2, 6-2.

The results:

Singles (first round): Nitin Kirtane (Ind) bt 2-Ivo Klec (Ger) 7- 6 (9-7), 6-2; 4-Syed Fazaluddin (Ind) bt Prakash Amritraj (Ind) 7-5, 6-4; 8-Ur Dekel (Isr) bt Kamala Kannan (Ind) 6-1, 6-4; Mustafa Ghouse (Ind) bt 7- Phillip Harboe (Chi) 6-3, 6-4; 5-James Auckland (GBR) bt Dooyev (Isr) 6-4, 6-3; Anton Kokurin (Uzb) bt Anant Sitaram (Ind) 6-2, 6-2; 3-Lars Uebel (Ger) bt Tushar Gautham (Ind) 6-0, 6-0; Rishi Sridhar (Ind) bt Tjondronegor (Ned) 6-3, 6-2; T. Nigri (Ger) bt Punna Vishal (Ind) 6-2, 6-4; 1-John Doran (Irl) bt Manoj Mahadevan (Ind) 7-5, 6-3; Rohan Bopanna (Ind) bt Shivshankar Kanabargimath (Ind) 6-3, 5-7, 6-2; Barry Fulcher (GBR) bt Siddarth Sharma (Ind) 6-2, 6-1; A. Brudermann (Aut) bt D. Lesske (Ger) 6-2, 6-4; Vinod Sridhar (Ind) bt I. Kimmerling (Ger) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3; G. Ghedina (Ger) bt Shivang Mishra (Ind) 6-2, 7-6 (7- 4).

Doubles: Syed Fazaluddin & Praksh Amritraj (Ind) bt Ur Dekel & Eliran Dooyev (Isr) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

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