Rishi rallies to beat Harboe

By Kamesh Srinivasan

AHMEDABAD, MAY 23. Rishi Sridhar resurrected himself from a hopeless situation in recording a 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 7-5 victory over the seventh-seeded Phillip Harboe of Chile in the pre- quarterfinals of the third leg, in the Satellite circuit tennis tournament at the AGETA Complex here on Wednesday.

After being down 0-4 in the decider, the 22-year-old Rishi saved four matchpoints, two each in the ninth and 10th games in recording a marathon victory in three hours and two minutes. Cheered by the children, who took their eyes off another lively encounter between Vinod Sridhar and the top-seeded Lars Uebel of Germany, Rishi played like a champion in reeling off seven of the last eight games.

Retaining a positive attitude despite the change in current as the match progressed, Rishi played like a man possessed, hardly putting a foot wrong, in taming the strong Chilean.

With his precision slice and forceful forehand, Rishi called the shots with a break in the first game, and another in the 11th game. But he put himself in trouble by surrendering the breaks, in the eighth and 12th games. However, in the tie-break Rishi passed his opponent and hit his strokes well to clinch the first set.

The Southern Railway employee lost his way in the second set, and was looking down the barrel, even as the charged- up Chilean reeled off winners at will. Rishi was broken five times in his six service games in the second and third sets, before he sprinted to an improbable but memorable finish, much to the jubilation of the spectators.

Uebel tames Vinod Sridhar

Vinod Sridhar could not enact a similar finish against the top- seeded Lars Uebel of Germany. The 21-year- old had stretched Uebel in the first round of the first leg in Thiruvananthapuram. In fact, Vinod was the only player who had taken a set off Uebel who went on to win the title then.

For sheer guts and the energy to cover the court all day, few Indians can match Vinod. Moreover, the Chennai lad has tremendous self-belief and never allows himself to be intimidated by the stature of his opponent.

It was one of the days when everything looked to be falling in place for Vinod, as he played like a remote-controlled robot, with precision in movements and execution, not to forget a remarkable focus and sense of purpose. The flow was very much in Vinod's favour, as he threatened to race to victory in straight sets.

However, this day Uebel showed considerable reserves in staving off half a dozen breakpoints in the eighth game of the second set after having trailed 1-4 and a set down to make a match of it.

In a high-quality contest, Uebel's experience and that bit more energy prevailed as he broke Vinod decisively in the ninth game of the decider, and served out at love in the next game, to earn a quarterfinal against the other Sridhar, Rishi.

There was some cheer for the Indian followers, though one Indian beat another. Manoj Mahadevan played a delightful game as he beat Syed Fazaluddin 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. Manoj is not just a tall and strong lad, but has the talent and intelligence to move up. Put him against a quality player, and the 19-year-old Manoj is sure to push his level up. After a sedate start, Manoj did exactly that against Fazaluddin, as he evened the sets with his all-round game. Manoj served big and came up for crisp volleys.

Yet, Fazaluddin is one of those players who has the weapons to hurt players much better equipped than Manoj. He tried his best in the climax, but Manoj held his nerve, and placed a backhand volley into the corner in converting his second matchpoint, and punched the air in sheer delight. In the quarterfinals, Manoj will meet Or Dekel of Israel.

Qualifier Anant Sitaram and wild card entrant Shivang Mishra had given a good account of themselves in reaching the second round, and both bowed out to better opponents, content to collect $125 each, and valuable circuit points that have put them in the Masters.

The results:

Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Lars Uebel (Ger) bt Vinod Sridhar 4- 6, 7-5, 6-4; Rishi Sridhar bt Phillip Harboe (Chi) 7-6 (7-3), 2- 6, 7-5; John Doran (Irl) bt Colin Bennett (GBR) 6-1, 6-3; Giunior Ghedina (Ger) bt Daniel Lesske (Ger) 6-4, 6-2; Manoj Mahadevan bt Syed Fazaluddin 2-6, 6- 2, 6-3; Or Dekel (Isr) bt Anant Sitaram 6-0, 6-2; Eliran Dooyev (Isr) bt David Sherwood (GBR) 6-1, 1-0 (retired); James Auckland (GBR) bt Shivang Mishra 6-1, 6-3.

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