Alexander Satschko lived up to his billing in the tournament. The German was simply unstoppable as he steamrolled his opponents one after the other. Amitabha Das Sharma reports.
Alexander Satschko has a special reason for liking India. The German achieved a 100 percent record by picking up his third ITF men’s Futures singles title in as many appearances in the country this year. The last of his three wins came on the clay courts of the Jaidip Mukherjea Tennis Academy in Kolkata. And interestingly enough, Satschko was playing for the second time at the same venue this year, and he played with the same authority as on the previous occasion to retain the title. He picked up his other title in New Delhi, immediately after winning the first one in Kolkata in February.
In all, Satschko has won four titles — including the one in South Africa in October — from six appearances in the final this season.
“He is very talented and a very good player on clay. One has to play to nearly 80 or 90 percent of his ability to stand a chance against him,” said David Savic of Serbia after being blown away by Satschko in the final in Kolkata recently.
Savic, the third seed, had a relatively good tournament, defeating second-seeded Nathan Thompson of the United States in the semifinals.
The final, however, turned out to be one-sided, as Savic failed to bring up the kind of play with which he could challenge Satschko.
“If injuries don’t keep bothering me I hope to better my previous best of 244 (ITF ranking) in the coming season,” said Satschko, who was ranked No. 315 when he entered the tournament.
Satschko, with a strong serve and a good return of serve, was very consistent as he forced his opponents into early surrender.
India had a big presence in the tournament with 18 of its players, including four qualifiers and four wildcards, in the main draw of 32. However, the country’s challenge evaporated by the semifinal stage as most of its players failed to stand up to the competition posed by the foreign players. The only man who bucked the trend was Vishnu Vardhan. But the Hyderabad player, who is part of the group selected to train for India’s campaign in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, failed to realise his dream of reaching his first Futures final as he had to retire with severe back pain after playing just three games in the semifinal against Satschko.
The other semifinal too remained inconclusive as Thompson complained about severe muscular cramps after drawing level on sets with Savic. The American retired in the decider.
Thompson’s injury, in a way, helped the Indian duo of Sunil Kumar Sipaeya and Rupesh Roy win the doubles title. The Indian pair chalked up a straight-set win over the second-seeded combination of Savic and Thompson.
Sipaeya had a horrible outing in the singles where he lost in the first round. However, he and Roy helped redeem some pride for India. Sipaeya and Roy had beaten the top-seeded Indian pair of Rohan Gajjar and Purav Raja in the semifinals. Savic and Thompson defeated Satschko and his German partner Marc-Andre Stratling in the other semifinal.
The Indian showing was good only in patches. In the first round, two of India’s players caused major upsets. Purav Raja outplayed fifth-seeded Stratling, while Rohan Gajjar despatched seventh-seeded Syrym Abdukhalikov. Raja, however, failed to get beyond the pre-quarterfinals, where he lost to his countryman Rupesh Roy in straight sets.
With most of the Indian players piled up at the top half of the draw, their numbers dwindled fast as the country’s players clashed against each other. Gajjar reached the quarterfinals beating wildcard Vijayant Malik but lost in the semifinals against Vardhan. After Roy was sent packing by Satschko in the quarterfinals, Vardhan was the lone Indian in the round of four.
THE RESULTSPrefix denotes seedingSingles final: 1-Alexander Satschko (Germany) bt 3-David Savic (Serbia) 6-3, 6-4. Semifinals: Satschko bt Vishnu Vardhan (India) 3-0 retd; Savic bt 2-Nathan Thompson (USA) 6-1, 6-7 (2-7), 2-1 retd.
Doubles final: 4-Rupesh Roy & Sunil Kumar Sipaeya (India) bt 2-David Savic (Serbia) & Nathan Thompson (USA) 7-6 (7-5), 6-0. Semifinals: Roy & Sipaeya bt Rohan Gajjar & Purav Raja (India) 3-6, 6-1, (10-5); Savic & Thompson bt Alexander Satschko & Marc-Andre Stratling (Germany) 3-6, 7-5, (10-6).
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