The Hindu : Maiden title for Nitin Kirtane

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 05, 2002

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Maiden title for Nitin Kirtane

By Kamesh Srinivasan

Nitin Kirtane who took top honours in the Satellite first leg tennis tournament in New Delhi on Saturday. — Photo: M. Lakshman

NEW DELHI MAY 4. Perseverance pays, but you got to have loads of patience to reap the dividends. Nitin Kirtane exhibited an exemplary sense of self-belief, as he pulled off a memorable maiden title win, in the final of the Satellite first leg tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Saturday.

It had been a long wait for the 28-year-old Nitin to get his first singles title at this level, but throughout his professional career, the Pune left-hander, to his credit, had never given up.

The third-seeded Nitin played his crafty game with a touch of perfection in shutting out the fourth-seeded Eliran Dooyev of Israel 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 on a windy evening.

For the capacity crowd, which included a lot of youngsters and their parents who had assembled for the all-India `Future Kids' programme, it was an anticlimax that Dooyev gave up far too quickly after losing the first set in the tie-break. But then, they all cheered the gutsy play of Nitin to their heart's content.

If anything, the best tennis lesson the kids could take from Nitin, at their tender age, would be, to be patient on the tennis court, and fight your way past the hurdles even against intimidating opponents.

Of course, it was the tie-break that held the key, and Nitin was 2-5 down in that. From that precarious situation, the left-hander reeled off five points in a row, as Dooyev struggled to cope with the slice and spin of Nitin and lost out the race of keeping the ball in play.

Having been broken in the fourth game, Nitin had broken back immediately in the next game, and went on to force the tie-break with smart service games.

In fact, Nitin served so well in the whole match, that Dooyev had a lot of problems in making meaningful returns. Slowly, Nitin also forced Dooyev to play at his pace and style, and the Israeli was doomed then and there.

For, few can play the crafty game of Nitin with the same poise, and he showed an uncanny ability to put away the loose balls, be it with a sharp volley at the net or a smart placement from the backcourt that left Dooyev stranded.

Dooyev did have the game to handle Nitin, as he stroked with felicity in smacking the winners on the forehand initially, and showed remarkable athleticism and anticipation for some delectable volleys. Maybe, Dooyev wanted to win too badly and was not relaxed enough to play a calculated game.

The second set was a washout till Dooyev held his serve in the sixth game. Nitin saved a breakpoint in the seventh, and served out the match in style with an ace down the middle, his third in the match.

"I am happy with the start for this Satellite circuit. It will be a different challenge over the next three weeks, and I need to work harder to build on this start'', said Nitin, quite pleased with his effort in the face of the tough weather conditions.

The winner collected $812 and 21 circuit points, while the runner-up had to be content with $562 and 15 circuit points. The next leg will be played in Mumbai.

The results (final): Nitin Kirtane bt Eliran Dooyev (Isr) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.

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