Pune: The all-Indian first-round singles match turned out to be an interesting battle as ATP World Tour debutant Arjun Kadhe went toe-to-toe with India’s top-ranked singles player Yuki Bhambri at the Tata Open Maharashtra on Tuesday.
The 118th-ranked Bhambri won the match 6-3, 6-4 in just over 75 minutes to set up a second-round match with eighth seed Pierre-Hughes Herbert.
As Bhambri said after the match, it wasn’t as easy as the scoreline suggested but he prevailed owing to his experience as Kadhe’s level dropped as the match progressed.
In the first set, Bhambri got the early break in the third game with a whipping return, but Kadhe responded by breaking right back. Bhambri pushed to break again and gained a 3-2 lead.
The 606-ranked US collegiate return, Kadhe made a lot more errors that his more experienced rival as they pushed each other to all parts of the court. A couple of holds later, Kadhe was serving to stay in the set when he made a decisive error – two double faults – as the Bhambri took the set 6-3 in 34 minutes.
Despite his four double faults, Kadhe showed that his serve can be his big weapon as he got five aces through the game with three in the first set. The first set was ultimately down to Kadhe’s errors as Bhambri cashed in on his ground strokes.
The 26-year-old also showed his vast experience as he closed out tough points with whipping, incisive winners using his faster pace and court coverage to the fullest.
In the second set, Bhambri pressed his advantage further and he continued to attack all flanks, with a flurry of quick, crisp winners just out of the reach of Kadhe.
He took Kadhe’s first service game in second set to deuce, piling the pressure on his serve. But the 23-year-old dug himself out with a volley and then won quick points with two attacking shots. This gritty hold seemed to have spurred him on as Kadhe got an early break in the third game.
But in the very next game, Bhambri wrested the momentum back, getting three break points and converted the second one to put the set back on serve at 2-2. In the next game, the duo traded blows before Bhambri sealed it with an ace – his first of the match.
The next four games saw them hold serve with a flurry of sharp exchanges before Bhambri started inching ahead. A gripping rally in the ninth game saw both Indians pushing each other to all sides before Kadhe missed a swift winner to all but seal the result – a pattern throughout the match.
As Bhambi got more and more attacking, Kadhe seemed to hold back a little which seemed to shift the balance.
Kadhe, serving to stay in the match, was down 0-30 and then gave away as many as three match points to end the match in a diametrically opposite manner than how he started.
The Pune player said he was unable to control the ball as he would have liked and gave away too many loose points.
In the end, the scorecard will show that Bhambri won the match by a comfortable margin, but Kadhe showed from the very first point that he had the game and the grit to match up to top players.
For Bhambri, the big test will be playing the eight seed on a day he has his doubles match as well, but the Indian said he is confident of giving his best.
In the all-Indian doubles match that followed, defending champions Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan beat Leander Pass and Purav Raja 6-3, 6-2 in just just under an hour.