ITF Tour: Zeel Desai goes down in marathon final in Cairo

India's Zeel Desai fought for three hours and 55 minutes before going down to Sandra Samir 7-5, 6-7(6),2-6 in the final of the ITF tournamnet in Cairo.

Zeel Desai had won a singles title in the ITF professional circuit in Gwalior in 2017. She has also won four doubles titles on the Tour. (File Photo)

Fifth seed Zeel Desai missed a match point as she went down 7-5, 6-7(6),2-6 in three hours and 55 minutes by top seed Sandra Samir in the final of the $15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Cairo, Egypt, on Sunday. In a see-saw battle, she recovered from being down 0-3 in the second set and saved two set points. But she missed a match point at 7-6 in the tie-break as Sandra forced the decider. Sandra fired two aces in the end, one to save a break point and the other to seal victory in the eighth game of the third set. The 22-year-old Sandra served four aces in the match and converted eight of 16 break points that she forced.

Zeel converted seven of 16 break points in the match, and won 119 points to 133 by Sandra.

It was a commendable performance by the 21-year-old Zeel who had earlier lost the doubles final.

Zeel had won a singles title in the ITF professional circuit in Gwalior in 2017. She has also won four doubles titles on the Tour.

Meanwhile, in the $108,320 Challenger in Mexico, the fifth seeded Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, occupying the position of the top seeds in the draw, were beaten 7-5, 6-4 in the doubles semifinals by the Brazilians Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos. The Indian pair collected 35 ATP points and $2,160.  

The results:->$108,320 Challenger, Monterrey, Mexico Doubles (semifinals): Orlando Luz & Rafael Matos (Bra) bt Sriram Balaji & Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 7-5, 6-4. ->$15,000 ITF women, Cairo, Egypt Singles (final): Sandra Samir (Egy) bt Zeel Desai 5-7, 7-6(7), 6-2.