Shivshankar flatters to deceive

Bangalore, June 13: Local lad Shivshankar Kanbargimath conjured up visions of a major upset, only to be snuffed out in the end by the top ...

Bangalore, June 13: Local lad Shivshankar Kanbargimath conjured up visions of a major upset, only to be snuffed out in the end by the top seed Danai Udamchoke of Thailand in the men’s singles first round of the McDowell-ITF Satellite (second leg) Tennis Tournament at the KSLTA Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

Incidentally, the matches commenced on Tuesday four hours behind schedule due to sodden courts following heavy rains on Monday evening. The portly ITF chief referee, Hani el Khalief seemed determined to start play only after he was satisfied the courts were bone-dry. And to complete the day’s fixtures, some of the matches were played at Century Club courts.

For all his effervescence on the court, Shivshankar’s diffidence in playing the big points did him in.

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Up by a break (3-2) in the first set, Shivshankar failed to nail home the advantage as Udomchoke roared back into the set breaking the Indian in the sixth game by picking up the lines clean as a whistle. The Thai then got the decisive break in the eighth.

With Udomchoke serving 5-6, 30-40 down in the second set, Shivshankar fumbled again by belting a forehand long. Udomchoke then promptly served out to force the tie-breaker. And even here the Indian betrayed his fragility — after being 4-0 up, he allowed the Thai to draw level 4-4 on a wasted forehand that landed at least a metre beyond the baseline. The two slugged it out to 5-5 before Shivshankar won the tiebreak by stabbing a running forehand, followed by a forehand smash.

In the fifth game of the third set, Udomchoke was in danger of losing his serve, but he came up with a timely ace to force deuce. The Thai managed to hold for a 3-2 lead, thanks to Shivshankar’s munificence — an ill-directed forehand with an open court in front.

Udomchoke earned the break he needed in the sixth game when Shivshankar, attempting a drop volley, checked his stroke and buried the ball into the net.

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Sandeep Kirtane, seeded No. 6 and the winner of the first leg in Mumbai, was rocked early in the match by Manoj Mahadevan, who won the first set, before coming through his first round 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Fourth-seeded Harsh Mankad had almost a routine day, defeating qualifier John Rom of the United States 6-3, 6-2.

Results (prefix denotes seeding; belong to India unless mentioned)

Men’s singles (I round): 3-Vishal Uppal bt Shanzaruz Zaman 7-5, 6-3; Alexei Gavrilov (Rus) bt Rishi Sridhar 6-4, 6-0; Vinod Sridhar bt Alexandre Sikanov (Rus) 7-6 (6-3), 6-1; Ajay Ramaswamy bt Vikrant Chaddha 6-4, 6-2; 6-Sandeep Kirtane bt Manoj Mahadevan 3-6, 6-1, 6-2; Pracharpol Khamsamram (Thai) bt Akshay Vishal Rao 4-6, 4-4 (unwell Akshay conceded the match); Aloke Bhide bt Kedar Shah 6-4, 6-2; 1-Danai Udamchoke (Thai) bt Shivshankar Kanbargimath 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3; 4-Harsh Mankad bt John Rom (US) 6-3, 6-2; Saurav Panja bt Kamala Kannan 6-4, 6-4; Marian Leysek (Svk) bt 8-Kunj Majmudar (US) 6-2, 6-3; Patril Stalbark (Swe) bt Kedar Tembe 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.