Unseeded Vijay Kannan came up with some fantastic winners under pressure to upset fifth seed Vinod Sridhar in straight sets and clinch the US $10,000 Indian Oil ITF Men's Futures Tennis tournament in Delhi on Saturday.
The 26-year-old Kannan was with his back to the wall on numerous occasions but managed to keep his nerve when it mattered to carve out a 7-5, 6-3 win his first ever Futures title.
The ONGC employee, who had lost to Sunil Kumar Sipaeya in his previous Futures' final, had a very indifferent start, his serve deserting him for most of the first set.
Kannan had no consistency in his first serve and had to rely on his brilliant court coverage capabilities to keep his challenge alive after losing his serve in the fifth game itself.
But Sridhar would surely be blaming himself for losing his grip on the first set, as he first failed to convert as many as three break points in the seventh game and then lost serve in the 10th, while serving for the set.
Kannan then held serve on love before taking advantage of Sridhar's two double faults to pocket the set 7-5.
The second set turned out to be a one-sided affair as Kannan showed more consistency in his serve while Sridhar's game turned erratic.
Kannan broke Sridhar in the fourth game and even though lost his in the very next, he came back to wrest the initiative in the sixth and wrap up the match.
The win also gave the Tamil Nadu player 18 valuable ranking points along with a purse of US $1300, while the runner-up went home richer by US $900 and 12 ranking points.
Kannan admitted that he was a bit lethargic at the start of the match and an early break in the first set had increased the pressure on him.
"I, however, kept on playing my natural game and since I have an overall court game, I could change my tactics according to the situation.
"I know his (Sridhar's) game thoroughly. I know very well that he is very good at the net, so I made sure that he did not get much chance to attack and make it to the net."
On his future plans, Kannan said he will enjoy a break for a couple of weeks before going to Bangkok for a two-week tour. He will thereafter return to the country for the Satellite event.
