Yuki scrapes past Rohan for title

With the win, Yuki extended his record over sixth-seeded Gajjar to 3-0. Yuki has thus lined himself for another set of back-to-back ITF titles with the second leg starting on Monday.
The Delhi youngster, who turned 17 on the day, dished out some solid strokeplay to get past Gajjar. Fourth-seeded Yuki struggled with his first serve in the one hour and 22 minutes match.

Yuki benefited from Gajjar’s stream of unforced errors, breaking him in the first and the third games of the match for a 3-0 lead. But a lapse in concentration saw Yuki drop his serve at love immediately to hand Gajjar, a junior national champion, his first game.

It was Yuki who broke Gajjar’s serve once again for a 5-2 lead before serving out the set. A double fault from Gajjar followed by a misfired backhand in the third game of the second set gave Yuki lead which he further consolidated by holding his serve in the next game.

But a double fault and a miscued backhand volley from Yuki in the sixth game allowed Gajjar to even out the break. The two held onto their serves from there on and the set went into the tie-breaker.

A double fault from Gajjar at 6-6 gave Yuki his second matchpoint, which he converted when the 24-year-old’s forehand kissed the net.