Near the end of his match against Nihal Kapoor, Yuki Bhambri had to jump to avoid a fierce forehand return which landed straight at his feet from the other side of the net. With a wry smile, the fourth seed pushed the ball away and continued his preparations for the next shot. There was certainly no cause to worry at that point, just like the proceedings of the rest of the match.

In the first round of this week’s $15,000 ITF Futures at the DLTA Complex, the junior world No 1 enjoyed a 6-2 6-0 win over Kapoor, who entered the main draw as a lucky loser replacing Nicholas Edlefsen of the United States, but that was just about as far as his luck would run.

He won two games right at the beginning of the match, and that proved to be all that would come his way once Yuki got going. The 17-year-old’s forehand fired off plenty of winners as he managed a double break, and though a couple of double faults while serving for the set meant he had to battle off a break point, he came up with a few good serves to ensure the set in his name 6-2.

In the first game of the second on Kapoor’s serve, there were a string of deuces as he tried to hold on, but eventually the break was Yuki’s. As the depth of the fourth seed’s groundstrokes regularly forced errors from Kapoor, the possibility of a comeback looked increasingly unlikely, and the underdog was duly dealt a bagel.

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