As the clock ticked closer to midnight, hope soared in the heart of the SDAT stadium, at the Chennai Open, on Tuesday.
Prakash Amritraj had given up all inhibitions and stormed at the net almost out of compulsion. His rival, Russia's Alexandre Kudryavtsev, was losing his grip on the match, frustrated and confused by the Indian's tactics.
Buoyed by the small crowd, with his brother cheer-leading, Amritraj kept the fight up in the match.
Trailing 2-4 in the third and deciding set, Amritraj fought back, nudged Kudryavtsev around from the net; throwing himself at everything the Russian came up with. But the same strength became his downfall, as he overdid the chip-and-charge strategy and couldn't show the flexibility to come up with an alternative when Kudryavtsev found his passing form.
After a two-hour battle, Amritraj lost 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (8), with only a few reckless moments separating the two players at the Chennai Open on Tuesday.
Playing against a qualifier is not always as easy as it sounds. Kudryavtsev had three solid matches behind him, including a morale-boosting victory over top seed Igor Kuntisyn. Moreover, with the Russian at 254 and Amritraj ranked 279, there was little to choose from.
Kudryavtsev won the first set 6-3, without much fuss and looked like over-riding the Indian, who had a stop-start-stop last year, with injury breaks interspersing a great two-month run where he won three Futures events and reached the last eight at the ATP tournament at New Port.
Amritraj, one of the few players around who loves camping at the net, got going in the middle of the second set, taking on a few weak shots from the Russian and killing them with a volley. Every second serve from Kudryavtsev was treated with disdain and Amritraj finally found the break of serves at the most opportune moments -- ninth game of the second set to go 5-4 up.
In the third set, the 22-year-old Russian again made a head start when he broke Amritraj in the sixth game to lead 4-2. The Indian Davis Cupper broke right back and went a double break up with as he killed the game with three telling volleys.
The nerves from both players were doing the talking after this; silly errors and shaky serves would fly free.
Amritraj was serving for the match at 5-4, but inexplicably came up with his worst service game in the match and was broken at love. They managed to hold on in the next two games and push the set into the tie-break.
It was another topsy-turvy ride in the tie-break, the spectators rising and dropping with Amritraj. He got the first match point at 7-6 when Kudryavtsev smashed the ball into the net. But immediately made up it with a return winner on the next point.
The Russian, with only his doubles partner Mikhail Youzhny and brother for support, though, won three out of the next four points. Amritraj was serving 8-9 down; someone in the crowd chose the moment to let out a scream. Whether that disturbed his concentration or not, the Indian lost the point and the match.
Nadal, Moya advance
In the other singles matches of the day, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Moya of Spain cruised into the second round with straightforward wins in their respective matches.
Nadal had to counter a late surge from his French opponent Mathieu Montcourt, but eventually won 6-2, 6-4. Two-time champion Moya beat Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 6-1.
Croatian qualifier Lovro Zovko hit 15 aces in breezing past Thierry Ascione of France 6-4, 6-0 in 59 minutes to record his first ATP win.
World No. 759 Zovko saved all eight break points, while Ascione won just three points on serve in the second set.
Eight seed 8 Marc Gicquel of France suffered a 7-6(5), 6-4 defeat at the hands of Kristof Vliegen of Belgium in one hour and 39 minutes.
Fifth-seeded Nicolas Mahut of France defeated Denis Gremelmayr 6-3, 6-3 in 67 minutes and will face Croatian teenager Marin Cilic, who rallied to defeat Serb Viktor Troicki 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-1.
Werner Eschauer, aged 33, came through 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-4 after a marathon two hour and 45-minute battle against Spaniard Bertolome Salva-Vidal.
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