Day 3 Recap

10:00 AM - Haresh takes time off work to ensure fitness

Haresh Ramchandani will be taking time off his office today in order to rest his cold and prepare for his matches tonight. The top seed will be working from home instead of going to his office at far-flung Andheri East so that he can be fresh for his remaining two round robin matches. His boss is also on leave today but is aware of the arrangement.

11-00 AM - Bharat order Becker DVDs; Family spills beans on Becker obessesion

IT CAN NOW BE REVEALED!! Siddharth Singh Rathore is not the only one ordering tennis stuff online. Second seeded Bharat Ramchandani recently went on an online shopping spree and purchased several DVD matches of his tennis idol Boris Becker and had them shipped to California, which his brother visited earlier this month. Bharat, who has modeled his game on the German tennis legend, has now built an enviable collection of Becker matches and is known to watch these tapes the night before tournament matches for inspiration. Reliable family sources have informed us that Becker has been a childhood obsession for Bharat and recalled one particular summer in the late 1980's where a young Bharat spent all his free time in the holidays perfecting Becker's signature swagger walk and drove several family members crazy.

12-50 PM - Daman withdraws officially; resolves racket controversy

Siddharth Singh Rathore has officially withdrawn from the ongoing AATP Masters tournament after failing to recover sufficiently from a neck injury suffered in the gym on Wednesday. Siddharth was placed in Group A which will now see 5 players (Haresh, Philips, Nimesh, Suvir and Dr. Malpani) battle it out for the semi-final spots. This is the latest in a string of disappointments for the Rajput Rathore, who was seen as a dark horse after building his game and temperament in the off-season.
In the latest development of the story we broke yesterday, Siddharth has resolved his issues with Mumbai customs authorities and cancelled his order for HEAD rackets from Tennis Warehouse. He has now placed an order with the official AATP equipment partner Selection Sports Centre for two HEAD rackets, which will come from Austria in about three weeks.

2:00 PM - Exclusive pics of Haresh & Steffi in NY

AATP has landed an exclusive picture of top seeded Haresh Ramchandani and Steffi Graf in New York. Haresh was in the US earlier this month and this picture was snapped during his visit to the US Open a few weeks ago. At one point during his visit to NY, Haresh also came face-to-face with Steffi's husband, Andre Agassi. No untoward incident or exchange was reported as a result of that face-to-face encounter.
AATP is currently negotiating with Haresh to secure exclusive rights to the pictures of his US Open visit. The top seed has been offered a four-figure sum (including decimal points) and is also in talks with Mid-Day and Sportstar for the same. He is expected to sign up with the highest bidder.

3-15 PM - Philips Eapen signed to host AATP awards night

AATP has signed up Philips Eapen to host its 1st ever AATP Awards night, scheduled tentatively for sometime in mid-2011. Philips, seeded third at the ongoing AATP Masters, has a rich background in hosting and public speaking; having hosted several events during his college days. He is currently in the midst of launching his own public speaking classes in Chembur and has also agreed to give a Rs.1000 referral fee to the AATP players if anyone coming through them signs up for his classes. Phillips will be leaving Chembur in a short while to reach the courts at Cooperage and launch his campaign for his second AATP title.

5-45 PM - Where does this hedge fund manager see the Sensex headed?

36 year old hedge fund manager Rahul Baijal has his money riding on one of the Ramchandani brothers to win this week's AATP Masters but thinks anyone with a longer-term view should place some money on Ayaz, who "has the game and stamina to win but needs to work more towards getting there." Baijal, who works for the India dedicated equities fund, Voyager Capital, is the only debutante in this week's tournament after sometimes doubles partner Rashish pulled out on Wednesday.
Rahul grew up in Delhi but has spent the last 11 years traversing the landscape of South Mumbai and counts Indiabulls CEO Gagan Banga among his childhood friends. He thinks of himself more as a doubles specialist but is enjoying the challege of playing singles this week. When asked to comment on where he thinks the Sensex might be headed in the coming months, Rahul commented, 'Either up or down ....but could be flat also!".

7-35 PM - Day 3 Schedule

Former champion Phillips Eapen and Dr. Aniruddha Malpani will kick off
proceedings in Group A action at 8 pm tonight at the MSLTA courts.
Phillips will also play key matches with Suvir and Haresh while Dr.
Malpani will also face-off against Haresh and Nimesh later tonight.
Ayaz and Ashu will kick off proceedings on the adjacent court for
Group A. Ayaz is also expected to play Rizwan and Jonty later tonight.
Bharat and Rahul will also take the court later for their group match.

11-30 PM - Haresh, Bharat, Rizwan qualify for semis; Philips-Nimesh to battle for last spot

The Ramchandani brothers went unbeaten in the round robin stage to top their respective groups while Rizwan finished second in Group B to book a semi-final spot against Haresh. Philips and Nimesh will play their group match tomorrow evening in a winner-takes-all clash and a semi-final berth against Bharat.
Bharat beat Rahul 6-1 and Jonty 6-3 to finish with a perfect 5-0 record. Rizwan beat Ayaz 7-6 in another marathon encounter and is currently 3-1 with his match against Ashu pending. In other Group B matches, Ayaz beat Ashui 6-2 and lost to Jonty 0-6 to finish with a 2-3 record. Rahul also has matches with Jonty and Ashu pending from the round robin stage.
In Group A, Haresh beat Philips 6-4 and Dr. Malpani 6-2 to finish with a 4-0 record. Philips beat Dr. Malpani 6-3 and Suvir 6-3 to stand at 2-1. Nimesh beat Dr. Malpani 6-4 and also stands at 2-1. The winner of their round robin clash will finish second in the group and qualify for the semi-finals.