Tipsarevic outclasses Yuki; Goffin in quarters
Top seed packs off young Indian in straight sets
If Yuki Bhambri won his first-round match with surprising effortlessness against Karol Beck on the opening day, the 19-year-old went down along expected lines against top seed Janko Tipsarevic in the pre-quarterfinals of the Chennai Open here at the Nungabakkam stadium on Thursday. 
Ranked 347 in the world to Tipsarevic’s 10, Bhambri was always going to be an easy meal for the Serbian who, made short work of the Indian with a 6-1, 6-3 win in just 61 minutes. Tipsarevic, last year’s semifinalst, thus set up a last-eight clash with David Goffin, the Belgian wild card registering a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over German’s Andreas Beck in the day’s first match.
Earlier in the day, second-seeded Nicolas Almagro made it to the quarterfinals after his opponent Steve Darcis of Belgium pulled out due to a right shoulder injury. The world No 10 Spaniard will lock horns with Japanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita, who shut the door on Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 victory on Court 1.
While no one expected any miracles from Bhambri, he can be proud of his effort in the second set. The Delhi lad appeared as though he was going to lose the first set, and expectedly received a sound drubbing. The youngster, however, played as if he had nothing to lose in the second and came up with a vastly improved performance.
Broken in the first, fifth and seventh games, the Indian Davis Cupper lost the first set in just 23 minutes. Barring his show in the third game, when he held with some ease sending down three unplayable serves, Bhambri was simply no match for his superior opponent as he won a mere eight points in the entire opening set, seven of them on his own serve.
A quick finish seemed pretty much on the cards but Bhambri showed a refreshing change in attitude and made Tipsarevic work harder for his points in the second set. “I was a little nervous in the first set,” admitted Bhambri later. “It was a pretty good match for me overall. I had a good second set and matched him pretty well I guess. I think all the positives to take from this game,” he noted.
Though broken in the fourth game of the second set, Bhambri gave a good account of himself, engaging his rival in intense rallies and producing big forehand winners. He also had a break point in the third game at 30-40, but Tipsarevic staved off the danger. Bhambri’s improved show amply reflected in the stats. While the former world junior number one won just 24 percent of points in the first set, he almost doubled the tally in the second (45%) and snatched two more games to draw huge appreciation from the sizeable crowd.
“It’s a great experience to play at this level,” remarked Bhambri. “I’m a completely different player compared to last year. I’m a much better player now but obviously, there are a lot of things that I need to learn. Physically, I need to make some improvements and I need to be consistent with my game. Hopefully, I’ll get there (winning matches at this level) soon,” he observed.
With Bhambri’s exit, the Indian challenge in singles came to an end, fellow wild card Vishnu Vardhan having already lost his first-round match. India’s brightest hope and top-ranked player Somdev Devvarman was forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury on the opening day of the tournament.
Results (pre-quarterfinals, prefix denotes seeding): 1-Janko Tipsarevic (Ser) bt Yuki Bhambri (Ind) 6-1, 6-3; David Goffin (Bel) bt Andreas Beck (Ger) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; Yuichi Sugita (Jap) bt Lu Yen-Hsun (Tai) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; 2-Nicolas Almagro (Esp) w/o Steve Darcis (Bel).
Doubles (quarterfinals): 2-Scott Lipsky/ Rajeev Ram (USA) bt Juan Sebastian Cabal/ Robert Farah (Col) 6-3, 4-6, 10-7.
