Karnataka Open: Aussie Sekulic ends tired Kriish Tyagi’s run to set up final against Smith

Tyagi received a reality check that process is easier said than attained when the last Indian standing at the event was eliminated by fourth-seeded Australian Philip Sekulic

Bengaluru: Recovery was the word Kriish Tyagi mentioned multiple times after his quarterfinal-winning high at the Karnataka Open ATP 50 Challenger here on Thursday. The 19-year-old knew he had to rest his body well to recuperate so he could be fully ready for the semifinal.

On Friday, the Bengaluru boy received a reality check that process is easier said than attained when the last Indian standing at the event was eliminated by fourth-seeded Australian Philip Sekulic. 

The 22-year-old Aussie, ranked 357 in the world, needed a mere one hour and three minutes to breeze through to a 6-0, 6-2 victory over the 1322-ranked Tyagi and book his place in the final. 

Everything from the toss of the ball to the swing of the racquet from Tyagi appeared to have a lag. Sekulic, who perhaps spotted his opponent’s fatigue during warm-up, was quick to capitalise on every opportunity. Without giving any room, the Aussie sent down strong serves and made Tyagi run from end to end, which tired the latter further. 

While the first set went past the Indian teen in a jiffy, Tyagi was finally able to hold the first of his two service games in the second set. That glimmer of hope for a fightback turned into fading light as Sekulic stayed solid and broke Tyagi twice in the sixth and eight games to close out the match. 

Sekulic will take on top seed Keegan Smith of USA, who scored a 6-4, 6-4 win over Belarus’ Ilya Ivashka in the other semis. 

Results (semifinal, prefix denotes seedings): Singles: 1-Keegan Smith (USA) bt Ilya Ivashka 6-4, 6-4; 4-Philip Sekulic (Aus) bt WC-Kriish Tyagi (Ind) 6-0, 6-2. 

Doubles: Petr Bar Biryukov/ Grigoriy Lomakin (Kaz) bt Adil Kalyanpur (Ind)/ Mukund Sasikumar (Ind) 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4); Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (Ind)/ Saketh Myneni (Ind) bt 1-SD Prajwal Dev (Ind)/ Nitin Kumar Sinha (Ind) 7-5, 6-1.