Missed chances

The third set had a profusion of missed opportunities from either player, and many of those were met by frustrated yells from the junior world No 1. The missed volley at set point, the break points that flew by after terribly calculated backhand slices, and the huge serves from Vardhan that couldn’t really be dealt with — all pointed towards the inevitable tie-break that would decide the match.

The second seed smashed an overhead shot to get the possibly decisive mini-break, but it all accounted for nothing as the next two points that came from his racquet were given away by double faults. In stark contrast, two good serves from Bhambri immediately after put an end to a two-and-a-half-hour long contest.

In the final, the Delhi player will take on Rohan Gajjar, who got past Ashutosh Singh 6-3 7-5.

Delhi’s Singh, the only unseeded player in the semi-finals, had fought his way past good quality players to reach this stage, but crumbled in straight sets against sixth seed Gajjar, who was not afraid to advance to the net when the opportunity presented itself.

After winning the first set off a single break, Gajjar found himself a break down early in the second, but recovered quickly to get back on serve, and a careless service game from Singh right at the end gave his opponent the opportunity to serve out the match. Gajjar didn’t put a foot wrong, pounding away winners to seal the win.