Nitin Kirtane wins maiden
ITF Satellite title
Nitin Kirtane ended his title drought when he beat Eliran Dooyev of Israel 7-6 (7/5), 6-1
to win the $6250 ITF men's Satellite tennis tournament at the
DLTA complex, in Delhi, on Saturday.
"I have made it to the semi-finals quite a few times
before losing the crucial matche. So I am really happy to win
this one," the Pune-based 28-year-old third seed aid.
The title triumph might have come in the absence of top
Indian players like Rohan Bopanna and Sunil Kumar but Kirtane,
a former national hard court champion, was pragmatic.
"Maybe, the players are less but I have a duty to go out
and perform. One also has to make the most of it since there
are lot of points on the offing," the third seed said.
Fourth seeded Dooyev commited the mistake that his countrymate
and second seed Tomer Suissa made while playing Kirtane in
the semi-final on Friday.
Instead of playing his shots, like he did against
Mustafa Ghouse in the other semi-final on Friday, Dooyev slowed
down his game and in the process played into the hands of his
clever opponent.
In fact, making his opponent play to his strengths has
been the secret to Kirtane's success. He denied Dooyev the space and made him work hard for his points.
Once he lost the first set tiebreak, Dooyev lost his
sting. In the second set, a double break in the second hastened the
end.
The Isreali did break Kirtane in the fourth game of the opening set to surge ahead but the Indian drew parity immediately, breaking back in the fifth game.
Both players held serve till the tie-break, where Kirtane showed the stuff he is made off. Dooyev raced to a comfortable lead but squandered the advantage as the Indian staged a fine comeback to win the tie-break narrowly and take the set.
Though both players committed lot of errors in the second set, Kirtane outplayed his rival conceding only one point to win the set and the title.
Dooyev was not able to concentrate on his game and every time he committed an unforced error, he tended to lose his temper, which proved his undoing.
Earlier reports
Ghouse loses; Nitin Kirtane in final
Ghouse ends Sandeep Kirtane's run
