Harsh Mankad triumphs in ITF Futures

Indian Davis Cupper Harsh Mankad displayed his true colours to down seasoned campaigner Nitin Kirtane and win the third and final leg of the $10,000 ITF men's singles Futures tennis tournament in Davangere, Karnataka, on Saturday.

The 23-year-old Mumbai won 6-1, 7-6(7-1) to add 12 valuable ITF points to his kitty and pocket $1,300. Kirtane had to be satisfied with eight points and 900 dollars.

Kirtane, who overcame fatigue and two three-set matches en route to the final, was found wanting although he did test the winner in the second set, taking it to the tie-breaker.

Mankad broke Kirtane in the second game of the first set, converting the single break-point that he held. Serving well and playing an attacking game, he then proceeded to win the set easily.

The second set saw the 29-year-old Kirtane, raise his game by several notches, despite being broken in the first game. Trailing 2-3, he broke Mankad's serve in the sixth, after he was up 40-30 and came up with a beauty of a backhand down the line return which left Mankad high and dry, to level the game scores at 3-all.

From then on the players held serve to force the tie-breaker.

But the tie-breaker turned out to be a lopsided affair as Mankad lost the first point on Kirtane's serve and then won the next seven on the trot.

''I played well in the first set, but he came back strongly in the second. I did not want to be stretched and he made some errors in the tie-breaker which I took advantage of'," said Mankad.

''He was a much better player today and I think he just outplayed me,'' said Kirtane.

Top seeded Vishal Uppal and Vijay Kannan won the doubles title, beating third seed Ajay Ramaswami and Sunil Kumar Sipaeya 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.

Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna, who is also the president of the State Lawn Tennis Association, gave away the prizes.

Earlier reports
Mankad, Kirtane to clash for title
Harsh Mankad storms into semis
Ghouse, Sridhar ousted in second round
Ramaswami upsets Sipaeya