After stunning top seed Karan Rastogi on Thursday, sixth seed Yuki Bhambri turned giant-killer, scalping No 4 Gero Kretschmer of Germany in straight sets, to storm into the final of the CCI-ITF US$15,000 Men's Futures tennis tournament at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai on Friday.
Ranked 491 in the ATP, Bhambri overcame a strong challenge from the 414-ranked German to fashion a hard-fought 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win in a tight contest that lasted two-and-a-quarter hours.
Bhambri will face former Davis Cupper and seventh seed Roko Karanusic in the final after the Croatian, who shunted out third seed Vishnu Vardhan of India and is making a gradual comeback after a two-year injury-hit lay-off, shocked second seed Adam Kellner of Hungary 6-4, 6-3 in the second semi-final that lasted 75 minutes.
Favourite Kretschmer added power behind his strokes to enjoy early domination as he led 4-2 in the first set after earning a break in the third game. But just when Kretschmer's confidence began to grow, and he dared to play his shots, the gutsy Bhambri broke back in the eighth to level at 4-4, before holding serve and snatching the lead for the first time at 5-4.
Games went with serve until Kretschmer held to force the tie-breaker, where Bhambri sailed to a crucial 6-3 lead and held on to take the opening set.
The advantage did wonders to the Indian's confidence as he believed in himself and surged to a 4-1 lead in the second set with breaks in the first and third games that surprised his opponent.
A brief medical time-out by Kretschmer at that stage stemmed Bhambri's flow temporarily as he struggled in the sixth game and was broken by the German after eight deuces, even as the Indian managed to save four break-points.
There was a brief scare of Kretschmer making a comeback when he held serve to narrow the margin at 3-4. But Bhambri quickly put behind the ominous signs to hold serve in the eighth game before breaking Kretschmer in the ninth to seal his place in the championship round.
"I recovered from a sluggish start at a time when Gero was playing some good shots. But I made sure the ball was in at most times and tried not to make too many mistakes," said Bhambri.
"Yuki is playing unbelievable tennis for his age. He was moving fast and not missing much. I played well in the beginning and was encouraged to play my shots. But it all started to go wrong with two mistakes on serve midway through the first set before I lost my way," explained Kretschmer.
Results (Semi-finals): 7-Roko Karanustic (Croatia) bt 2-Adam Kellner (Hun) 6-4, 6-3; Yuki Bhambri (Ind) bt 4-Gero Kretschmer (Ger) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Doubles (Semi-finals): 1-Gero Kretschmer/Alexander Satschko(Ger) bt Maximillian Neuchrist/Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (Austria) 7-5, 6-2; 2-Purav Raja/Divij Sharan (Ind) bt Yuki Bhambri/Rohan Gajjar (Ind) 6-4, 6-4.
