E-Paper
ATP Challenger: Mukund comes from behind to outclass Clark
The contest appeared to be a level playing field from the very first game as Clarke served out a near perfect hold before his opponent did the same in the following one
It was far from smooth sailing for the 21-year-old wildcard Sasi Kumar Mukund as he had to make a comeback from being a set down to beat British favourite and sixth seed Jay Clarke 4-6, 7-5, 4-1 (ret) in the pre-quarterfinal of the KPIT MSLTA ATP Challenger organised by Maharashtra state lawn tennis association (MSLTA) and Pune metropolitan district tennis association (PMDTA), played at the Balewadi tennis complex on Wednesday.
The contest appeared to be a level playing field from the very first game as Clarke served out a near perfect hold before his opponent did the same in the following one. Both, tall athletes, relied heavily on their serves and played exquisite forehand winners to put each other on the back foot. With a score at 5-4, it was the case of who’ll blink first to relinquish control of the set and unfortunately for the fans in attendance, it was the Indian who got broken when he had to serve to stay in the set.
After calming his nerves and focusing on what went wrong in the first, Mukund came out with a more aggressive approach in the second set. In his own words, the 21-year-old did not play too many carefree shots in the first and that’s what led to him losing the set. However, once he started to hit the ball harder, he tired out his opponent, who was already not at his hundred per cent in terms of fitness, and that gave the Indian a psychological boost midway through the second set.
His devil-may-care attitude may have come at a cost as he lost his first service game, but quickly clawed his way back into the game by breaking serve to restore parity. Mukund broke the Englishman’s serve in the fifth game of the second set to go 3-2 up and there was no looking back after that.
Even in the deciding set, Clarke proved to be no match for the resolute Indian and with the game at 4-1 and almost out of reach for him, he decided that it wasn’t worth taking a risk and decided to retire, handing the game to the unseeded Mukund.
There was more to celebrate for the fans at the Balewadi facility as the top ranked Indian and tournament fourth seed Prajnesh Gunneswaran cruised into the quarters with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 win over German qualifier Lucas Gerch in little under an hour. On the flip side, local boy Arjun Kadhe bowed out with a straight sets defeat to Canadian Bradyen Schnur.
Turning Point
Jay Clarke’s illness may be seen as the reason for Sasi Kumar Mukund’s victory, but the unseeded Indian altered his tactics in the match which saw him come out victorious. Realising that a conservative approach was not working, he decided to up the ante and go after his opponent’s serve which forced Clarke to adopt a defensive approach to the contest. He also studied that his opponent’s backhand was weaker and exploited it to a great extent in the final two sets.
Quotes
Sasi Kumar Mukund: “I need to improve my game to close out matches like these, but I’m learning. However, I personally believe that for my level, the quality of tennis was very good. We both played close to our best and there were many good rallies as well. Compared to yesterday’s game vs Saketh, today’s was very different. Clarke is a baseliner and plays heavy so it’s difficult to draw parallels.”
Jay Clarke: “I wasn’t at my hundred per cent today as I was feeling ill this morning. It was a 50-50 call whether or not I should compete, but I decided to give it a go. I think I played the best I could and I’m glad with my performance.”
Results: Second Round:
[WC] Sasi Kumar Mukund (IND) bt [6] Jay Clarke (GBR)5-7, 6-4, 4-1 (ret);
Bradyen Schnur (CAN) bt [WC] Arjun Kadhe (IND) 7-5, 6-2;
[4] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) vs [Q] Lucas Gerch (GER)6-1, 6-3;
[3] Elias Ymer (SWE) bt Daniel Masur (GER) 6-3, 7-6(4);
[1] Radu Albot (MDA) bt Maverick Banes (AUS) 6-3, 6-1;
Frederico Ferreira Silva (POR) bt [Alt] Nicola Kuhn (ESP)7-5, 7-5;
Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) bt [Q] Ben Patael (ISR) 7-5, 6-4;
[Q] Sebastian Fanselow (GER) bt Max Purcell (AUS) 6-2, 6-1;
Doubles: First Round:
[1] Purav Raja (IND) / Antonio Sancic (CRO) bt Daniel Masur (GER) / Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT) 46 76(6) 10-8
[4] Andrej Martin (SVK) / Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI)bt [Alt] Collin Altamirano (USA) / Maverick Banes (AUS) 64 75
Max Purcell (AUS) / Luke Saville (AUS) bt Cem Ilkel (TUR) / Danilo Petrovic (SRB) 64 16 16-14
Siddanth Banthia/ Anvit Bendrey (Ind) bt Kunal Anand / Shahbaaz Khan ( India) (Alt) 6-2,6-4
