Swede Elias Ymer emerged a hair’s breadth better than the top-seeded Briton Billy Harris, winning two tie-breaks, in a semifinal match that lasted around two-and-a-half hours in the Chennai Open ATP Challenger at the SDAT tennis stadium here on Saturday.
Ymer won 7-6(5), 7-6(2).
It was a match where both served well and none was able to break serve. Ymer hit ten aces to Harris’ four, including the one he hit to secure the first set and let out a guttural yell. Ymer was especially hyped for it since Harris had just saved a set point.
Ymer resorted to keeping Harris on the move to counter his heavy groundstrokes. The real clincher was his ability to smartly place his winners - on the corners and margins. It also helped that he had an early lead in the tie-breaks: 2-0 in the first and 3-0 in the second.
It didn’t help Harris that he erred more than his opponent. For instance, he double-faulted and made a couple of unforced errors to concede the 3-0 lead in the second tie-break.
In the first semifinal, Frenchman Kyrian Jacquet claimed a relatively easier 6-4, 6-1 win over Czech Dalibor Svrcina.
“I think he had a problem with the heat. I was struggling (with the heat) too, but I saw him struggling more than me. I’m really happy about this win. It’s really good to be in a final again,” said Jacquet, who’d last made it to a Challenger final in July, 2024.
The Indian pair of Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni lost 4-6, 4-6 to the Japanese duo Shintaro Mochizuki and Kaito Uesugi in the doubles final.
The results: Singles (semifinals): Elias Ymer (Swe) bt Billy Harris (GBr) 7-6, 7-6; Kyrian Jacquet (Fra) bt Dalibor Svrcina (Cze) 6-4, 6-1.
Doubles (final): Shintaro Mochizuki and Kaito Uesugi bt Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-4, 6-4.
Published - February 08, 2025 09:20 pm IST
