Vishal Uppal registered a tough victory against second seed Sunil Sipaeya to set up a title clash on Friday with third seed Karan Rastogi [Images] in the ITF Men's Satellite Masters tennis tournament in New Delhi.

In the semi-finals played at the RK Khanna Stadium, fourth seeded Uppal fought back after being blanked in the second set to defeat Sipaeya 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 while Rastogi outplayed top seed Alexey Kedriouk of Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-1 on Thursday.

Local favourite Uppal broke Sipaeya in the fourth game to bag the first set comforatbly. But in the second set Sipaeya came back with vengeance and broke Uppal thrice in the second fourth and sixth games to win it 6-0.

Unfazed by the mauling, Uppal raised his game and held his serve in the decider before breaking Sipayea in the third game and post a 6-4 win.

In the other semifinal, Rastogi spelled his class executing his forehand and backhand shots to perfection to pin down a frustrated Kedriouk, for whom everything went wrong in the match.

Rastogi broke his Kazak opponent in the second and sixth games of the first set, which culminated with three consecutive aces.

In the second set, the Indian displayed his command over cross court play and stunned Kedriouk with some impeccable returns to break him thrice in the first, third and seventh sets for a 6-1, 6-1 win.

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