Indian challenge ends at Chennai Open

The Indian interest in singles competition of the ATP Tour Chennai Open came to an end on the second day but not before Davis Cupper Harsh Mankad came tantalisingly close to an upset win against eight seeded Kevin Kim in a first round match in Chennai on Tuesday.

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While wild card entrant Karan Rastogi lost to fourth seeded Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden 4-6 0-6, qualifier Mankad raised visions of creating history as he produced scintillating tennis to come back from a set down to take the match to the decider.

Mankad came up with a memorable performance, wearing down eighth seeded Kevin Kim, before losing the first round match in three.

Mankad, who qualified to the main draw with a superb win over higher ranked Jamie Delgado of Britain yesterday, came close to ousting Kim, ranked 172 in the ATP list, after bouncing back in the second set and then in the decider but missed big points in the third set to go down 4-6, 6-4, 4-6.

The Indian Davis Cupper rallied superbly from 1-2 down in the second set and went on to to win the set to push the match into the decider.

But Mankad paid heavily for not being patient during rallies as he crashed out of the season opeing tournament on the ATP calendar.

In the second set, Mankad broke the American twice but a sudden lapse in concentration saw him dropping his serve after taking a 4-2 lead.

However, he regrouped well in time to break back in the tenth game as he came up with power packed returns, which rarely brooked response from Kim.

Egged on by a good number of supporters including Anand Amritraj and Mahesh Bhupathi, the 25-year-old Mumbaikar exhibited a variety of shots and excelled with his back hand cross court shots.

He also made a few breathtaking retrievals and eyecatching drop volleys. On the other hand, the American, largely a challenger and futures competitor, played a waiting game from the back court engaging Mankad in long rallies.

The second set saw Mankad losing the opening game as his backhand let him down while Kim went on the offensive. The Indian saved a break point in the third game and managed to hold on. Then he turned the tables, breaking Kim in the next game with a backhand winner and a drop shot from the baseline.

The players traded breaks in the decider with Mankad being broken in the first, fifth, seventh and ninth games, while Kim lost his serve in the second and fourth.

The fighting spirit of Mankad was to the fore when he saved three match points in the tenth game but his forehand return sailed long on the fourth match point to bring down the curtains.