Ogorodov prevails over Fazaluddin

Ogorodov prevails over Fazaluddin
SANDEEP DWIVEDI

AHMEDABAD, FEB 21: If a publisher was searching for a writer to pen How to dig your grave, the hunt would have ended at the AGETA courts on Monday. Syed Fazaluddin's harakiri against top seed Oleg Ogorodov of Uzbekistan in the first round of the Bharat Petroleum Challenger tennis tournament showcased the need of paste a `fragile' tag on Indian players' forehead.After squandering two set points in the first set, Fazaluddin messed up two beginner-level overhead forehand shots close to the net in the tie-breaker to help Ogorodov advance.

Before Fazaluddin's 6-7 (5), 3-6 defeat, the other first round Indian casualties included Prahlad Srinath and Vishaal Uppal. Srinath lost to Joao Cunha Silva of Protugal 2-6, 0-6 which came after Uppal's 1-6, 0-6 loss to Jeff Coetzee of South Africa. Vadim Kutsenko made it a double delight for Uzbekistan as the fifth seed scored a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Nicolaus Coutelot of France.

The first full service break came about in the 13th game of the Fazaluddin-Ogorodov match. Theinitial part of the match highlighted the fact that in terms of court skills, the two were on par. So it all boiled to the choke factor. Fazaluddin showed signs of the said mental flaw after he squandered a 6-5, 40-15 lead. Further proof was provided by the overhead goof up in the tie-breaker which saw Ogorodov win the the first set.

With an imperfect past, the future was tense. The second set saw mutual breaks in the third and fourth games but Ogorodov sustained pressure to break Fazaluddin again in the eighth game and pocket the set 6-3.

Manoj Mahadevan and Rishi Sridhar lost to N Thomann and F Volandri 3-6, 2-6 in the doubles main draw.

Results: Joao Cunha-Silva bt Prahlad Srinath 6-2, 6-0; Oleg Ogorodov bt Syed Fazaluddin 7-6 (5), 6-3; Jeff Coetzee by Vishal Uppal 6-1, 6-0; Vadim Kutsenko bt Nicolas Coutelot 7-5, 6-4; Behr Noam bt Marcos Roy 6-2, 3-0 (retired).