Hard-fought win: The straightforward scoreline was deceptive at best, with Duckworth having to fend off Kuzmanov in extended rallies. Photo: K. Murali Kumar
Second seed James Duckworth quelled Dimitar Kuzmanov’s challenge 6-4, 6-1 to enter the semifinals of the dafaNEWS Bengaluru Open at the KSLTA courts on Friday. In the last-four clash, he will meet fellow Australian and qualifier James McCabe.
The straightforward scoreline was deceptive at best, for Duckworth, starting under the blazing noon sun, had to break a lot of sweat. Rallies were extended and a majority of the games went to deuce.
It helped Duckworth that in both sets he ran-up 3-0 leads from where Kuzmanov could only play catch-up. The Bulgarian tried to be brave and went for the lines consistently. But Duckworth’s superior court-craft carried the day.
Towards the evening, top seed and last year’s winner Chun-hsin Tseng was blasted off the court by Hamad Medjedovic in straight sets. The Serb will meet Australia’s Max Purcell who got past Italy’s Luca Nardi.
In doubles, the Indian pair of Anirudh Chandrasekar and N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth fought off Arjun Kadhe and Maximilian Neuchrist 7-6(1), 4-6, [10-2] to enter the final.
The results (Singles, quarterfinals): James Duckworth (Aus) bt Dimitar Kuzmanov (Bul) 6-4, 6-1; James McCabe (Aus) bt Harold Mayot (Fra) 6-3, 7-6(4); Hamad Medjedovic (Srb) bt Chun-hsin Tseng (Tpe) 6-1, 6-2; Max Purcell (Aus) bt Luca Nardi (Ita) 6-2, 6-0.
Doubles (semifinals): Anirudh Chandrasekar & N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth bt Arjun Kadhe & Maximilian Neuchrist (Aut) 7-6(1), 4-6, [10-2]; Yunseong Chung (Kor) & Yu Hsiou Hsu (Tpe) bt Marc Polmans & Max Purcell (Aus) 6-4, 6-4.
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