The way Sanam Singh fought back after tamely losing the opening set and stretching the match into the decider, he soared the expectations against the eighth-seeded Illya Marchenko of Ukraine in the opening match of ONGC –GAIL Delhi Open.
But the diminutive Indian fumbled on crucial points against the Ukrainian to go down 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on the centre court of the RK Khanna Tennis stadium on Monday.
The slow court and windy conditions added to the challenge and Sanam, ranked 352, flickered like a flame in the face of wind in the opening set. He misfired the easiest of returns to swiftly go down a set. But the Indian, known for his splendid court-craft, returned with purpose in the second.
He pushed the tall and well-built Ukranian for every point and chased nearly every ball. Despite that he conceded break in the fifth game, a double fault on two break points, but shot back to return the favour immediately.
Marchenko, too, helped his cause by slumping to a raft of errors and the Indian pulled off the decisive break in the eighth game before serving out the set.
Marchenko, placed 67 in 2010 and currently ranked 161, cut a sorry figure ahead of the decider. However, he soon shrugged off his disappointment by breaking Sanam straightaway and jumping to a 3-0 lead.
The Indian, cheered by his Davis Cup teammates at the stands, slowly worked his way back. He held his next service game and broke back Marchenko in the long fifth game.
At 4-4, the Indian had the opportunity to take control of the match when he earned two break points, the second one squandered when he hit a forehand down the line long. Marchenko was quick to seize the lifeline this time to hold and then broke Sanam in the next game, when the Indian muffed up a volley, to wrap up the set and the match after a two hours and 10 minutes battle.
In the two big upsets, third seed Peter Gojowczwk of Germany and fifth seeded Go Soeda lost to Mohamed Safawat (7-5, 7-5) and Swiss Marco Chiudinelli (6-1, 6-3) respectively.
In the four women’s singles matches featuring Indians, none of the home player returned with a win.
Prerna Bhambri lost to top seed Erika Sema of Japan 1-6, 3-6 and Prarthana Thombare went down to Ukraine’s Veronika Kapshay 4-6, 5-7.
Results (Indians unless mentioned):
Men’s singles: First round: Mohamed Safwat (Egy) bt 3-Peter Gojowczyk (Ger) 7-5, 7-5; 8-Illya Marchenko (Ukr) bt Sanam Singh 6-2, 3-6, 6-4; Marco Chiudinelli (Sui) bt 5-Go Soeda (Jpn) 6-2, 6-1.
Women’s singles: 1-Erika Sema of Japan bt Prerna Bhambri 1-6, 3-6, Veronika Kapshay (Ukr) bt Prarthana Thombare 6-4, 7-5, 8-Qiang Wang (Chn) bt Shweta Rana 6-2, 6-0, Peangtarn Plipuech (Thai) bt Nidhi Chilumula 6-3, 6-2.
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