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Srinath supreme

Second-seeded Prahlad Srinath played a cool and calculated game to get the better of Syed fazaluddin 6-4, 6-3, and win the third leg of the ITF men's Satellite Tennis Tournament in Delhi today.

With this win, Srinath, the Bangalore leg winner, collected 21 points and displaced Artem Derepasko of Russia from the top seeding. After three legs, he has amassed 52 points.

Thus, the Masters, which starts in New Delhi from Monday, placed Derepasko as the second seed, with 46 points, and twice losing finalist Fazaluddin as the third seed, with 31 points.

Fazal, who had beaten Srinath in the second leg at Mumbai, started off in grand style, breaking Srinath in the third game. But Srinath, who has played well throughout the circuit, managed to break back in the sixth game, though with some effort. The game saw five break points, with Srinath converting the last, as Fazal hit a volley out.

Games then went with service, till Srinath exerted pressure in the tenth game, when he broke the third seed again to take the set 6-4.

The second set witnessed Srinath in full flow, repeatedly attacking a flagging Fazaluddin. He broke Fazal on his first two serves to establish a commanding 5-0 by the fifth game. A late fightback by Fazal, who took the next three games, breaking Srinath once, mattered little, as the second seed served out the rest of the set to take the set and match 6-3.

'Though I played a good game, my serve was not upto the mark,'' said Srinath. He said he was looking forward to the Masters and was confident of playing well there. "I am not very tired; I did not have very long matches. I hope to do well in the Masters.''

Agencies