Bengaluru: N Sriram Balaji celebrated his 27th birthday with a tempestuous 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over his rival and top seed Prajnesh Gunneswaran to lift the F5 ITF Futures tennis tournament title at the KSLTA stadium here on Saturday.
The trophy was Balaji’s ninth ITF title overall and second this year in what has been an excellent run-in to the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan, for both competitors.
In a match that ebbed and flowed nearly to the three-hour mark, Balaji had his vengeance over the man he lost to, at ITF Bhilai in Chattisgarh last week. From the start, Prajnesh was just more efficient in his strokes, finding his rhythm to force Balaji into errors. The breaks came along in the third and fifth games for Prajnesh, and he secured the first set 6-2 comfortably.
With his back against the wall, Balaji changed tactics to impact the match in his favour. The players held serve, with Balaji using his massive first serve to great effect. As his confidence grew, so did his advance to the net. The points were cut short and in the eighth game, Prajnesh made a critical error, double-faulting whilst trailing by a break point to hand Balaji the advantage. He gratefully accepted, and served out the set 6-3.
Balaji was in fine fettle at this point, firing in ace after ace. The break came again in the eighth game, and World No. 363 Balaji used it to seal the issue with aplomb.
‘Balaji, top contender for Cup’
India’s Davis Cup head coach Zeeshan Ali praised both winner Balaji and runner-up Prajnesh, acknowledging their preparation ahead of the crucial second round Asia/Oceania Group 1 Davis Cup against Uzbekistan in April. “Both of them have been doing extremely well and getting a lot of matches under their belt. They’re playing in Thiruvananthapuram next week, which will be Balaji’s sixth tournament in a row. This circuit of ITF tournaments is benefiting our players a lot,” the former Davis Cupper said.
He also weighed in on Balaji’s chances of making the team. “There are six players we need to choose from, and the way he’s been playing, there’s a very good chance he’s going to be a top contender to play singles or doubles.”
