Rastogi breezes past Korean Nam

, who had won the same tournament here in May by beating America?s Nick Monroe in the final, dominated the match ? he did not drop a set and neither was broken even once by Nam.

The moment Karan Rastogi stepped on Court 2 of the DLTA to play the ITF Men’s Futures final, almost everything fell in place for the 20-year-old. Pitted against unseeded Korean Hyun-Woo Nam, Rastogi raced away with the title 6-4, 6-2 in just over an hour.

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Rastogi, who had won the same tournament here in May by beating America’s Nick Monroe in the final, dominated the match — he did not drop a set and neither was broken even once by Nam.

The opening game of the match saw the players involved in a number of well-matched rallies, but Rastogi’s perfectly sliced crosscourt backhands earned him a break point that eventually led to Nam failing to hold his serve.

Nam, who had upset third seeded Aisam Qureshi of Pakistan earlier this week, failed to make the most out of some simple chances that came his way, ones which would have brought him back in the opening set.

The sixth game of the opening set gave the 21-year-old Korean a perfect opportunity to strike back as Rastogi’s forehand returns were falling just short.

Nam lacked the fighting spirit he displayed in his previous matches and allowed the fiery Rastogi to break him twice — in the third and fifth game — to take an invincible lead of 5-2.

By the sixth game, Rastogi had three championship points, of which he wasted the first one — by double faulting — but clinched the very next one with a brilliant forehand return.

An ecstatic Rastogi clenched his fists and left the court hoping this win would boost his chances in the Chennai Open.