Black brothers storm into final

Black brothers storm into final
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

CHENNAI, JANUARY 6: The Zimbabwean pair of Byron Black and Wayne Black moved into the doubles final of the ATP Gold Flake Open with an emphatic 6-3, 6-4 win over Frantisek Cermak and Ota Fukarek of the Czech Republic in the semi-final here on Saturday.

The top seeded Black brothers now await the winner of the match between India’s ace duo of Mahesh Bhupathi-Leander Paes and Barry Cowan-Mose Navarra, to be played later in the evening.

The Zimbabwean pair were expected to make it to the final and they stuck to their task quite efficiently against the Czech duo who incidentally were making their first appearance in a semi-final on the ATP tour.

Both Byron and Wayne were effective in both defence and attack and with excellent court coverage they were always on top, barring the fourth game of the second set when the younger Wayne was broken.

The Czechs, who have won just two challenger titles last year, failed to click at this level of tournament. Ota Fukarek was broken in the eighth game of the first set before Byron held serve to secure the set.

In the second set, Wayne dropped service in the fourth game but the brothers broke Cermak in the next after the Czech doublefaulted and Byron produced two superb passing returns. This helped them lead 3-2 before another break of Cermak’s service saw the Zimbabwean pair win the set and match to make it to the final.

TABARA IN SINGLES FINAL: Michal Tabara of the Czech Republic made it to the final of the singles event after his opponent, Kristian Pless of Denmark, conceded the match after 14 minutes in the semi-final here on Saturday.

As the match started, it was evident that Pless was not in his elements. He was broken in the first game and was finding it tough to match Tabara’s shot-making ability.

The Czech was serving and volleying brilliantly, securing points at will, as Pless committed errors. Pless was also not moving well.

After trailing 0-4, Pless was given medical attention for his right shoulder. As he was serving for the fifth game, it was clear that he could not bear the pain in his serving arm. Down 30-40, Pless walked up to the net shook hands with Tabara and walked away.

The unseeded Tabara will now take on the winner of the match between Tommy Robredo and Andrei Stoliorov.