Tennis: All India clash in finals of ITF Futures

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Chennai, July 27: Second seed Vijay Kannan and unseeded Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan fought through a three setter semifinal to set up an all Indian clash for the title in the 10,000 dollars prize money ITF Futures tennis tournament here today.

Locally, Vijay and and left hander Jeevan, who play for the Club, defeated third seeded Hsin Han Lee of Taipei 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2 and eighth seeded Guilherme Ochiai of Brazil 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, respectively, in the last four stage, after struggling in the second set, playing lacadaisical tennis and finding the rhythm again in the deciding thrid set.

For Jeeven, seen as a rising talent with good volleying and sharp ground strokes, the semifinal win came as a fillip in the wake of some poor performances in recent times. In fact, the four time quarterfinalist in the nationals, who had come close to be named in the Davis Cup squad on a couple of occasions, it was the first entry into the final of the Futures event.

Both Hsin and Ochiai caved into the humid conditions after putting up a splendid fight in the second set. Their shot making also withered.

The final will be played tomrrow.

UNI