Top seed and four time AATP champion Haresh has topped Group A at the AATP
Masters Championships which got underway at the MSLTA Courts in Mumbai.
The younger of the Ramchandani brothers played his usual steady game to first beat
Rahul Baijal 6-3 and then defeated Ashutosh 6-3 to advance to the
quarter finals where he will meet the player who finishes second from
Group B. The outcome of that group, consisting of 4th seed Jonty
Kandpal, Champ Alreja and Manish Roopani, still hangs in the balance
with a crucial match being held over for Thursday.
In the third match from Group A, Rahul beat Ashutosh 6-2 to qualify as the second placed player from Group A. Rahul will meet the topper of Group B in the quarter finals on Friday.
Ashutosh was visibly struggling from the effects of the dengue fever that he has just recovered from and needed vitamin supplements in between games to sustain himself through the evening. In spite of that, he was able to give Haresh and Rahul a tough fight in both the matches.
Unseeded Ayaz Vasi stormed into the quarter finals of the AATP Masters Championships by topping Group B after easy wins over second seed Rizwan Sumar and Suvir Shah. Vasi served with left hand through both his matches to avoid further damage to his injured right shoulder. Doctors have refrained him from raising his right arm above shoulder level. While many expected him his serve to become his undoing, it actually turned out to be the surprise element as both Suvir and Rizwan struggled with Vasi's slow and high left handed service delivery.
Vasi defeated Suvir 6-0 and then defeated Rizwan 6-1 to come out on top of Group B. In the third match, Rizwan beat Suvir 6-2 to keep himself in contention for a second AATP title. Rizwan will meet Group C topper Nimesh Vora while Ayaz runs into Group C runner-up BR.
Suvir did lodge a complaint with tournament officials after his loss to Ayaz when it was discovered that their match was played with the net being much higher than it should be. However, tournament officials dismissed the complaint insisting that it is the players who need to check the net height before the match starts and that the conditions were equal for both players.
Upset at being sidelines for the no. 4 seeding, Nimesh Vora proved the AATP seeding committee wrong the only way he knew how to - by coming out on top of the Group C at the AATP Masters Championships on Wednesday. Nimesh stunned no. 3 seed Barry Ramchandani 6-1 in the first match of the day, fuelling talk of the decline of the older Ramchandani sibling. Bharat has failed to reach the finals in the last 2 AATP events and then took to the court against Dr. Malpani, knowing that he needed to win by a huge margin to ensure his spot in the semi finals.
Bharat managed to beat the Doctor 6-2 but the match was much closer than the scoreline suggests. Bharat then watched from the sidelines, hoping for Nimesh to defeat Doctor so that Bharat could survive through to the quarter finals. Dominating with his forehand, Doctor Malpani engaged Nimesh in baseline rallies and ran out a 6-4 winner as the Ramchandani brothers watched nervously from the sidelines.
With all three players scoring one win each, the group standings came down to the Duckworth-Lewis formula of games won percentage out of total games played. Nimesh finished tops with a 58.8% game winning percentage, Bharat finished second with a 46.7% record while Doctor Malpani finished third with a 44.4% record. The standings were so close that had Doctor Malpani beaten NImesh 6-3, he would have advanced to the quarter finals instead of Bharat.
Having topped his group, Nimesh will now meet second seed Rizwan in the quarter finals on Friday in what should be a baseline slugfest while Bharat will take on Ayaz Vasi.
In the third match from Group A, Rahul beat Ashutosh 6-2 to qualify as the second placed player from Group A. Rahul will meet the topper of Group B in the quarter finals on Friday.
Ashutosh was visibly struggling from the effects of the dengue fever that he has just recovered from and needed vitamin supplements in between games to sustain himself through the evening. In spite of that, he was able to give Haresh and Rahul a tough fight in both the matches.
Unseeded Ayaz Vasi stormed into the quarter finals of the AATP Masters Championships by topping Group B after easy wins over second seed Rizwan Sumar and Suvir Shah. Vasi served with left hand through both his matches to avoid further damage to his injured right shoulder. Doctors have refrained him from raising his right arm above shoulder level. While many expected him his serve to become his undoing, it actually turned out to be the surprise element as both Suvir and Rizwan struggled with Vasi's slow and high left handed service delivery.
Vasi defeated Suvir 6-0 and then defeated Rizwan 6-1 to come out on top of Group B. In the third match, Rizwan beat Suvir 6-2 to keep himself in contention for a second AATP title. Rizwan will meet Group C topper Nimesh Vora while Ayaz runs into Group C runner-up BR.
Suvir did lodge a complaint with tournament officials after his loss to Ayaz when it was discovered that their match was played with the net being much higher than it should be. However, tournament officials dismissed the complaint insisting that it is the players who need to check the net height before the match starts and that the conditions were equal for both players.
Upset at being sidelines for the no. 4 seeding, Nimesh Vora proved the AATP seeding committee wrong the only way he knew how to - by coming out on top of the Group C at the AATP Masters Championships on Wednesday. Nimesh stunned no. 3 seed Barry Ramchandani 6-1 in the first match of the day, fuelling talk of the decline of the older Ramchandani sibling. Bharat has failed to reach the finals in the last 2 AATP events and then took to the court against Dr. Malpani, knowing that he needed to win by a huge margin to ensure his spot in the semi finals.
Bharat managed to beat the Doctor 6-2 but the match was much closer than the scoreline suggests. Bharat then watched from the sidelines, hoping for Nimesh to defeat Doctor so that Bharat could survive through to the quarter finals. Dominating with his forehand, Doctor Malpani engaged Nimesh in baseline rallies and ran out a 6-4 winner as the Ramchandani brothers watched nervously from the sidelines.
With all three players scoring one win each, the group standings came down to the Duckworth-Lewis formula of games won percentage out of total games played. Nimesh finished tops with a 58.8% game winning percentage, Bharat finished second with a 46.7% record while Doctor Malpani finished third with a 44.4% record. The standings were so close that had Doctor Malpani beaten NImesh 6-3, he would have advanced to the quarter finals instead of Bharat.
Having topped his group, Nimesh will now meet second seed Rizwan in the quarter finals on Friday in what should be a baseline slugfest while Bharat will take on Ayaz Vasi.
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