February 17, 2018 by admin

Balaji-Vardhan winners, Yuki in Chennai Open final

Chennai, February 17

Yuki Bhambri will take on top seed Jordan Thompson of Australia in the final of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger tennis tournament.
Bhambri got the better of South Korea’s Duckhee Lee, the third seed, 7-5 6-2 in one hour and 25 minutes while Thompson beat unseeded Spaniard Pedro Martinez 6-1 7-6 in the semifinals.
The first set saw an even contest between the world No. 112 Bhambri and the speedy South Korean. Bhambri played well within himself from the baseline and made an occasional foray to the net to finish off points. A solitary break did the trick for Bhambri in the first set. The second set was one-way traffic as the Indian stepped up his game and hit winners from both the flanks. Two service breaks highlighted Lee’s struggles in the set as Bhambri pulled away to victory.
The Indian ace did not face a single break point through the course of the match. With the win, Bhambri improved his head-to-head record against Lee to 2-0 and enhanced his chances of returning to the top-100. The second-seeded duo of N Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan edged out Cem Ilkel and Danilo Petrovic, the Turkish-Serbian duo 7-6 5-7 10-5 to capture the doubles crown.
Results: (Singles semifinals): Jordan Thompson bt Pedro Martinez 6-1, 7-6; Yuki Bhambri bt Duckhee Lee 7-5, 6-2. —