INDIANAPOLIS:Indian formidable pair of Purav Raja and left-handed Divij Sharan continued their impressing march as they stormed into the doubles final in the $53, 120 Rajeev Ram Foundation Indy Challenger at the Pearson Automotive Tennis Club in Zionsville, Indiana, here on Friday.
Down by a set, Purav Raja and Divij Sharan raised their game to convert their deficit to profit as they surprised the USA combination of Robert Galloway and Alex Lawson on Court 1. In a well-contested semi-final which lasted one hour and 11 minutes, the Indian pair recorded a well-earned 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 verdict.
Robert Galloway and Alex Lawson began on a confident note by winning the opening set. The Indian players maintained their cool and focused more on the game. They got the vital break in the eighth game of the second set when Robert Galloway's service was broken and Divij and Raja took a 5-3 lead. Divij Sharan served in the ninth game and helped his team clinch the set after leading 40-15 to level the set score to 1-1.
They maintained their pressure and took an early 3-0 lead in the match tie breaker. They increased the lead to 6-2. Robert Galloway and Alex Lawson fought back and reduced the margin to 7-6. However the Indian players made it 9-3 with three match points. Their opponents saved two match points before Raja and Divij wrapped up the match by winning at 10-8.
For the title clash Raja and Divij will cross swords with top seeds Hans Hach Verdugo (MEX) and Hunter Reese (USA) who beat (PR) Toshihide Matsui and Kaito Uesugi (JPN) 7-6 (3) 7-5 in the second doubles semi-final.
In the singles quarter-final match Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan overcame a stiff resistance from eigth seed Christopher Eubanks (USA) 7-6 (3) 6-7 (4) 6-4. The evenly fought match lasted two hours and 14 minutes.
Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA), Ben Shelton (USA) and Special Exempt Yibing Wu (CHN) also advanced to the singles semi-finals.
Results
Doubles (semi-finals): (1): Hans Hach Verdugo (MEX) and Hunter Reese (USA) bt (PR) Toshihide Matsui and Kaito Uesugi (JPN) 7-6 (3) 7-5, Purav Raja and Divij Sharan bt (3) Robert Galloway and Alex Lawson (USA) 3-6 6-3 10-8.
Singles (quarter-finals): (Alt) Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA) bt (5) Dominik Koepfer (GER) 7-5 7-6 (5), Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) bt (8) Christopher Eubanks (USA) 7-6 (3) 6-7 (4) 6-4, (SE) Ben Shelton (USA) bt Max Purcell (AUS) 7-6 (5) 6-4, (SE) Yibing Wu (CHN) bt (WC) Alex Rybakov (USA) 6-3 6-3.