Tseng finds his feet just in time

Chun-hsin Tseng knew that the odds were against him as the match progressed. Whispers of the defending champion’s early exit went around among the those present at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association here on Wednesday.

Just when his opponent, his fellow countryman from Taipei, Yu Hsiou Hsu felt the finish line close for an upset win, the top-seeded Tseng overcame whatever self-doubt he had to score a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 victory to advance at the DafaNews Bengaluru Open.

It was in the third set when serving to survive at 4-5 down, the 21-year-old Tseng found his mojo again. Shrieks of ‘come on’ from an otherwise calm and cool competitor echoed across the arena that helped him hold serve before winning the third set tie-breaker.

“A small change in the attitude always makes a huge difference,” he pointed out in the post-match press conference.

This was after the 131-ranked Tseng comfortably took the first set 6-2 and Hsu, ranked 206, staged a fightback. The 23-year-old Hsu appeared to move quicker and went for the kill by employing the down-the-line backhand that caught Tseng wrong footed. This helped the former to win the closely-fought second set 7-5.

Though the momentum clearly looked to be on Hsu’s side, Tseng with his renewed fighting spirit took control of the game in the final few moments of the 3-hour 34-minute battle to secure a 7-6 win.

In the other match of the day, Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic notched up his second victory of the tournament in a tough three-setter against USA’s Nicolas Moreno de Alboran to advance to the quarterfinal.

The 19-year-old captured the first set rather easily (6-3). But Alboran roared his way back into the contest to take the second 7-5. The Serbian teen, however, emerged a tad bit stronger to clinch the third 6-4 and surge ahead in the week.

The two other singles clashes saw Australian James McCabe defeat compatriot Marc Polmans 7-5, 7-5 while France’s Harold Mayot outclass Great Britain’s Ryan Peniston 7-6, 6-0.

Results (Singles, round of 16): 1-Chun-Hsin Tseng (Tpe) bt Yu Hsiou Hsu (Tpe) 6-2, 5-7, 7-6; Harold Mayo (Fra) bt 3-Ryan Peniston (GBR) 7-6, 6-0; James McCabe (Aus) bt Marc Polmans (Aus) 7-5, 7-5; Hamad Medjedovic (Srb) bt Nicolas Moreno De Alboran (USA) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Doubles (Indians unless mentioned): Anirudh Chandrasekar/ N Vijay Sundar Prashanth bt SD Prajwal Dev/ Parikshit Somani 7-5, 6-2; 1-Marc Polmans (Aus)/ Max Purcell (Aus) bt Calum Puttergill (Aus)/ Dane Sweeny (Aus) 7-6, 4-6, 10-6; 4-Arjun Khade/ Maximillan Neuchrist (Aut) bt Petr Nouza (Cze)/ Andrew Paulson (Cze) 7-6, 6-4.