Ivo Heuberger of Switzerland stopped Gregory Carraz's winning run in the $25,000 Indian Oil Servo ATP Challenger tennis series, defeating him 6-4, 6-3 in the singles semi-finals at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association on Friday.
In Saturday's final, the fifth seed will play Thailand's Danai Udomchoke, who defeated Louis Vosloo of South Africa 6-3, 6-1 in the other semi-final.
Earlier, Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel won the doubles semi-final, beating 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 against Jean-Franceois Bachelot of France and Yves Allegro of Switzerland.
After a shaky start when he faced a break-point in the very first game, Heuberger quickly found his rhythm to dominate second seeded Carraz throughout the match. Heuberger was perfectly tuned up for the key match today while Carraz seemed to be off-colour and plotted his own demise.
"In the morning it's okay, but later it is too hot; I don't like it," Carraz, who won both the singles and doubles titles in Bangalore last week, had said yesterday about the heat in Delhi.
He had also mentioned the difference in pace of the balls between the two cities. In Bangalore, more than thousand feet above sea level, "the balls were flying" while here they were a bit slower.
Of course, having been a pro for the past ten years, he could adjust his game but playing under the lights in the evening heat clearly put him off.
Carraz's first serve had been a delight to watch throughout the week. Today, however, it had taken leave of him. He generally struggled to get his feet moving and Heuberger repeatedly came up with crosscourt winners to gain advantage. Heuberger played exhilarating tennis, but more importantly he came into the match with a gameplan and executed it perfectly.
At 4-4 in the first set, both the players were gradually getting into form. An exchange at the net in the 9th game which went in the second seed's favour pointed to the confidence of the two.
In the next game, serving to stay in the set, Carraz came under pressure. A double fault gave a break point for Heuberger, and although the Frenchman made it deuce, Heuberger gained advantage with a superb backhand pass. Another cross- court winner followed, and the Swiss was pumping his fist to take the first set.
In the second set, Heuberger once again had the advantage of serving first. Carraz was yet to figure a way to slow down his opponent when he faced 0-40 situation in the second game. A line call, or the absence of it, helped him avert the first but at 30-40, Carraz made a quick dash to the net only to fail at keeping the volley in to drop serve.
From there on, the result was a foregone conclusion.