Bopanna's winning run ends

Rohan Bopanna's giant-killing run came to a halt on Friday. The Bangalore lad was beaten by second seed Eyal Elrich of Israel in the semi-finals of the MSLTA-ITF Futures men's international tennis tournament, at the Deccan Gymkhana tennis courts.

Elrich overcame an erratic start to win 2-6, 7-6(7-4), 6-2 in one hour and 50 minutes and set up a final meeting with countryman and top seed Lior Dahan, who accounted for unseeded Micheal Varsanyi of Slovakia 6-2, 6-7(7-5), 6-2 in the other semi-final, which lasted a little less than two hours.

The 21-year-old Bopanna, who had disposed off Indian Davis Cupper Syed Fazaluddin on Thursday and seventh seed Ciaran Moore of South Africa before that, raised visions of another upset as he won the first set and then held his own against the second seed till midway through the second set. However, his game fell apart after he was broken in the ninth game and the Israeli clawed back to turn tables.

Bopanna went into the semi-final using the strategy he used against Fazaluddin -- serve, volley and then attack his opponent's weaker side. The move paid off initially. He served five aces in the first set, and returned well from the baseline to break Elrich in the sixth and eight games and take the set at 6-2.

In the second set too, the finalist of the Indore and Bombay legs, started with two thumping aces as both players held serve till 4-4. But whether it was a lapse in concentration or the noon heat, he botched two easy volleys in the ninth game and dropped serve. Though he managed to return the break in the 10th, hitting three precise down-the-line returns, he could do little to stop Elrich in the tie-break, where the Israeli started strongly, taking three straight points, and never looked back.

In the decider, the 557th world-ranked Elrich broke in the second and eighth games to wrap up the set and match at 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

In the other semi-final, Lior Dahn made an easy victory look difficult. He won the first set without much ado but committd a series of unforced errors in the second which allowed the unseeded Micheal Varsanyi to harbour hopes of victory. However, in the secider, he took no chances and finished off his opponent in quick time.

The doubles match between Prahlad Srinath and Ajay Ramaswami and Lior Dahan/Eyal Elrich was stopped in the final set after the Israeli pair won the first set 7-6, via the tie-breaker, and the Indian won the second at 6-4.