Kannan to meet Sipaeya
in ITF Futures final
Fourth seed Vijay Kannan tamed top seed Rohan Bopanna in the semi-finals of the $10,000 ITF
Men's Futures tennis tournament in Delhi on Friday to set up a final
clash with Sunil Kumar Sipaeya.
Bopanna, keen to avenge his loss to Kannan in the final
of National grass court championships earlier this year, found
Kannan's game too good in the second and third sets as he went
down after winning the first set 7-5, 4-6, 4-6.
Kannan will take on fifth seed Sipaeya who, was named in
the Indian Davis Cup team earlier on Friday. Sipaeya made it doubly sweet, beating
Thailand's Sonchat Ratiwatana 6-3, 6-4 in the other semi-final.
Kannan's victory might have warmed the hearts of those
who prefer touch tennis to raw power though reputation and
seeding favoured Bopanna.
In the end, it was the solidity of Kannan that proved
crucial against the powerful serves and returns of the top
seed.
"I couldn't get my second shots right. I was able to
return his serves well but I struggled with my second shots,"
said Bopanna.
Kannan displayed his mental toughness consistently
slicing at Bopanna's shots in the match. He had immense faith
in his main weapon, the backhand slice, against the awesome
power hitting of his opponent.
