Kirtane moves into final

Kirtane moves into final
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

CALCUTTA, MARCH 17: Top seed Nitin Kirtane struggled a bit before suppressing third seed SK Shivshankar to enter the singles final of the Central Revenue masters tennis at the Central Excise Athletic Club here on Friday.

Kirtane played much below par but lifted his game in the nick of time to register a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 victory and keep himself on course for a ``double'' after claiming the doubles title alongwith Saurav Panja.

Second seed Vasudeva Reddy conceded his semi-final match against Rohan Bopanna after leading 2-1 in the first set due to a groin injury. But later in the day he took part in the doubles final.

The top seed pair of Kirtane and Panja had to dig deep into their reserves before carving out a hard-fought 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 victory over Vasudeva Reddy and Rishi Sridhar to win the doubles.