Top seed Billy Harris fought off a stiff challenge from Kazakhstan’s Timofey Skatov to win the quarterfinal on a tie-break, 6-3, 7-6(6) in the Chennai Open ATP Challenger at the SDAT tennis stadium here on Friday.
Losing the first set 3-6, Skatov, turning as hard as rubber, held out even when stretched in the second set. Down 4-5, he ended a 19-stroke rally with a spectacular forehand crosscourt pass to save a match point. On 5-6, he saved two match points as Harris made a couple of unforced errors.
Harris, too, crucially saved a set point with a forehand crosscourt volley when he was down 5-6 in the tie-break.
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In the day’s first match on the same court, Kyrian Jacquet (France) prevailed, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(6), in a similar see-saw battle with Shintaro Mochizuki (Japan).
Mochizuki lost the first set 1-6 and made it 2-all after losing the first two games in the second. Up 5-4, he saved a game point with a forehand crosscourt volley and, with a couple of unforced errors from his opponent, broke to secure the set.
He made it 3-all from 1-3 down in the third-set tie-break but erred for his opponent to save a match point on 6-5.
“It was hot and humid outside. So, it was tough, both physically and mentally. I’m proud to have won this match because I saved one match point and fought till the end,” said Jacquet, who’d dropped a set for the first time in the tournament.
The results
Singles (quarterfinals): Billy Harris (GBr) bt Timofey Skatov (Kaz) 6-3, 7-6(6); Kyrian Jacquet (Fra) bt Shintaro Mochizuki (Jpn) 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(6); Dalibor Svrcina (Cze) bt Oleksandr Ovcharenko (Ukr) 6-3, 6-0; Elias Ymer (Swe) bt Rio Noguchi (Jpn) 6-2, 6-3.
Doubles (semifinals, Indians unless mentioned): Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Ray Ho (Chn) and Matthew Christopher Romios (Aus) 7-6(5), 7-6(8); Shintaro Mochizuki (Jpn) and Kaito Uesugi (Jpn) bt Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth 4-6, 6-4, 10-6.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com