Mobilenews24x7 Bureau
Bengaluru, Feb 19 : Joining hands with Austrian Alexander Erler, Arjun Khade of India won the doubles title of the Bengaluru Open 2 ATP Challenger here on Saturday. The top seeded pair defeated the third seeded Indian duo of Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-3, 6-7 (4), 10-7 in the final after the latter had gone into the match with the tag of defending champions.
Meanwhile, in the singles semifinals, top seed Aleksandar Vukic halted the run of last week’s finalist Borna Gojo of Croatia with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory. In the title clash, the Australian will meet Bulgarian Dimitar Kuzmanov, who scripted an epic comeback victory against third seeded Frenchman Enzo Couacaud 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Enzo seemed to be in better control of the situation than his opponent when he earned two breaks in the first and third games to go 3-0 up before his serve was broken. The opponents broke each other in the next two games before Dimitar held his serve and earned a break in the next game to restore parity at 4. However, he lost his serve again while Enzo held his serve to win the first set. Enzo all but sealed the match while leading 5-3 in the second set. Gojo not only saved two match points but came back into the match roaring by winning four games on trot, including breaks in the 10th where Enzo double faulted twice and the 12th game.
Enzo’s trouble with serve was clearly visible during the end of the second set and continued in the decider as he made two more double faults in the fourth game as Dimitar took a decisive 4-1 lead after holding his serve in the next. Enzo won the next two games to reduce the margin.
However, Dimitar played some exquisite low angled shots that had the crowd in roars and broke Enzo’s serve in the eighth game before serving out for a place in the final. Earlier, in the first last-four encounter, Vukic looked in top form as did Gojo as the rivals kept up a fast-paced game. The only thing that separated them was the consistency in the serves, which Vukic did with aplomb while dishing out 11 aces without a single double fault. After both had held their respective serves, Vukic came close to breaking Goyo’s serve in the fifth game when he was up 40-15, thanks to two doubles faults by Goyo, who committed a total of eight in the match. Without any breaks by either of the players, the set went into a tie-breaker, where Gojo succumbed 5-7 even after holding a 5-3 lead. In the second set, a break in the fourth game was all Vukic needed to eventually close out the set and match. Results Singles (Semifinals): 1-Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) bt Borna Gojo (CRO) 7-6 (5), 6-3; Dimitar Kuzmanov (BUL) bt 3-Enzo Couacaud (FRA) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Doubles (Finals): 1-Alexander Erler (AUT)/Arjun Kadhe (IND) bt 3-Saketh Myneni (IND)/Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) 6-3, 6-7 (4), 10-7. U
