Second seeds Niki Poonacha and Courtney Lock were beaten 6-4, 6-3 by the unseeded Japanese duo of Masamichi Imamura and Rio Noguchi in the doubles final of the $100,000 Delhi Open ATP Challenger Tennis Tournament at the DLTA Complex on Saturday.
It was an anti-climactic finish as Niki and Lock had combined remarkably well in their journey to the final. However, they were not sharp against the Japanese who were remarkably fluent in facing every challenge and finding prompt solutions.
After losing the first set, the Indo-Zimbabwean pair dipped further into deep trouble as it trailed 1-4. There was a semblance of recovery when Niki and Lock won the next two games. But that was all they could do, as the Japanese raced away to the trophy.
The champion team collected 75 ATP points and $4,980. The runner-up team bagged 50 points and $2,880.
In the singles semifinals, second seed Billy Harris of Britain stepped it up in time in the decider to stop the superb run of third seed Tristan Schoolkate of Australia. Harris won 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2. Schoolkate wavered slightly in that second set tie-break and was never the same force in the rest of the match. Luck, too looked to have deserted him as a few net chords fell against him.
In the final, Harris will play Kyrian Jacquet of France, who outplayed top seed Vit Kopriva of the Czech Republic for a loss of four games.
The results:
Singles (semifinals): Kyrian Jacquet (Fra) bt Vit Kopriva (Cze) 6-3, 6-1; Billy Harris (GBR) bt Tristan Schoolkate (Aus) 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2.
Doubles (final): Masamichi Imamura & Rio Noguchi (Jpn) bt Niki Poonacha & Courtney Lock (Zim) 6-4, 6-3.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com