Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Rastogi enters Futures final

December 29, 2006 15:10 IST

Fourth seed Karan Rastogi stormed into the final with a facile win against Todor Enev of Bulgaria in semifinals of the ITF Men's Futures tennis tournament in New Delhi on Friday.

Rastogi's excellent serves and quick movements helped him rally to the straight sets 6-3, 6-2 win against his unseeded opponent at the DLTA complex.

In the final, he will play the winner of second semifinal between Alexey Kedriouk of Kazakhstan and Hyun-Woo-Nam of Korea.

Enev, who appeared tired after winning the doubles final with Hiroki Kondo of Japan earlier in the morning, could not match the 20-year-old Indian youngster's energy.

The Bulgarian, however, offered some resistance by successfully holding his serves in fourth, sixth and eighth games of the first set but Rastogi, who was leading 5-3, claimed the set.

Enev took 2-0 lead in the second set but Rastogi came back with a force to win next six games to win the set and the match.

Rastogi, who has been given the wild card for the ATP season opener Chennai Open, said he was surprised at the meek surrender by Enev.

"I was expecting a tough match today but it looked he (Enev) was out of touch. Maybe he was tired beacuse of doubles final match. I served well and played overall good tennis," Rastogi said after the match.

Enev attributed his defeat to fatigue and injury.

"I played this match just after winnnig doubles. I am playing continuously for a long time and this dried me of energy. Also, the knee injury affected the movement badly," said Enev.

© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.