NEW DELHI, January 2: What promised to be the match of the day almost turned out to be a non-starter as top seeded Vadim Kutsenko sat down to enjoy an early lunch after his opponent Marcus Hilpert, down 2-6, 0-3, complained of a sore shoulder and conceded his semi-final match in the $ ITF Future circuit tournament at the DTA courts on Friday.Suddenly, the other semi-final, ignored till then, got some attention. And though the scoresheet recorded 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-2 and an upset win for fifth seeded Uzbek Dmitri Tomasevich, it was a terrible way to lose for the second seeded Israeli Lior Mor who had two match points at 5-4 in the second set.With little to differentiate between the two stocky baseliners who stuck to their heavy topspin formula, Mor played the big points intelligently and pocketed the first set 7-6(2).But after a ridiculous call by the chair umpire at 5-all in the second set, everything crashed in for the Israeli.The trouble started after the Uzbek saved two break points to force deuce in the 11th game. Tomasevich's angled serve was clearly wide, but after the line umpire's blank look, the chair umpire, who was also clueless, ruled it an ace. Mor argued for a while with the adamant umpire, and that only made him more irritable. In the absence of ITF supervisor Luigi Bambrilla of Italy, the referee who was called in refused to look at the mark or listen to the player. Tomasevich saw his chance, cashed in and closed out the set 7-5. Mor lost heart and threw away the final set 2-6.But later in the afternoon, he came back with partner James Delgado and got one back with a straight set win against Tomasevich and Kutsenko in the doubles semis.In Saturday's final they take on the third seeded Israeli pair of Jonathon Erlich and Naom Okun who upset top seeds Andrew Rueb and Ali Hamadeh in the other semis.Coming back to the first semi-final, Marcus Hilpert struggled not just with his sore shoulder. Though he is quick on his feet and fresh after a successful week on the Duliajan grass courts, he hurried far too much against a patient Kutsenko. While the top seed did nothing extraordinary, Hilpert went flat on his backhand, hit the net tape consistently and gave away too many free points. When he broke Kutsenko to make it 3-5, it looked like he had sorted out his problems. But he worried too much about his misbehaving backhand, and in the process, botched up his forehand and his chances to break even. By then his shoulder added to his agony and Kutsenko's confidence.Results (all semi-finals)Singles: Vadim Kutsenko (Uzb) bt Marcus Hilpert (Ger) 6-3, 3-0; Dmitri -Tomashevich (Uzb) bt Lior Mor (Isr) 6-7 (2-7), 7-5, 6-2. Doubles: Jonathan Erlich-Noam Okun (both Isr) bt Ali Hamadeh-Andrew Rueb 7-5, 3-6, 6-2; James Delgado-Lior Mor bt Vadim Kutsenko-Dmitri Tomashevich 6-4, 6-4.
