Tal Eros’s friend sitting on the sidelines was throwing in an encouraging word now and then at the DLTA Complex on Wednesday, as the Israeli went about the daunting task of trying to tackle an in-form 17-year-old, who also happened to be the winner last week at the $15,000 ITF Futures event in the Capital.

It’s been a long time since Yuki Bhambri had to face defeat on his home courts, and when he won the first set for the loss of just two games, it looked as though he was on course for the quarter-finals. However, Eros had a few tricks up his own sleeve — a powerful serve and a single-handed backhand together with booming groundstrokes — and though he managed to stretch the contest to three sets, Yuki managed to emerge a 6-2 2-6 6-3 winner in the end.

Unfazed by the loss of the first set, Eros began the second with a purpose to win. The depth of his groundstrokes was simply too much for his young opponent, and he fired off winners down the line and crosscourt every few points.

Breaks in the fifth and seventh games handed him the set easily enough, but the decider was a completely different story. With the momentum on his side, Eros began going for too much pace in the hunt for more unreturnable shots, and the errors kept piling up. He was broken in his first service game in the third set, and a single break was all Yuki needed to win the match.

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