Bruthans wins ITF Futures title

Slovakia's Victor Bruthans foiled Sunil Kumar Sipaeya's bid for a second successive title, by beating him 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 in the final of the Stellar ITF Futures tennis tournament in Gulbarga, Karnataka, on Saturday.

In a rain-interrupted match, the third seeded Bruthans held his nerve when it mattered most as Sipaeya, who triumphed in Delhi last week, could not get his act together at crucial junctures.

However, India had some consolation as the pair of Harsh Mankad and Ajay Ramaswami annexed the doubles title, beating the Slovakian duo of Bruthans and Michel Varsanyi 6-4, 6-4.

The doubles defeat dashed Bruthans's dream of a double crown.

In fact, credit should go to Bruthans for his stupendous performance in the singles final. It was Sipaeya who began the match on a bright note, breaking the Slovakian in the third game. The Indian had another break in the seventh and looked like crusing away with the first set. However, he was broken back in the eighth and tenth games as the scores were levelled at 5-5.

Light showers interrupted play for 10 minutes and it seemed to have helped Bruthans compose himself and resurge as he served and volleyed well to take the tie-breaker and the set in quick time.

On the other hand, the rain break proved to be a dampener for Sipaeya as he struggled to concentrate.

In the second set, Bruthans proved too good and ran away a winner at 6-4.

Earlier reports
Sipaeya, Bruthans to clash in final
Sipaeya, Gajjar in last four