rediff.com: Mankad masters Udomchoke

The 21-year-old Mankad, who has been playing consistently in the Satellite circuit, gave ample proof of his class as he fashioned a facile 6-3, 6-1 victory in the title clash which lasted barely 48 minutes.

The wiry Udomchoke seemed unusually subdued and tired and paid the price for committing a number of unforced errors in what turned out to be a rather one-sided affair.

Mankad's efforts not only fetched him the winner's purse of $800 but 31 valuable circuit points which will help him to improve his ranking. Udomchoke had to be content with $600 and 23 points.

The Indian looked composed and in control right through the encounter and kept his Thai opponent under pressure with a series of crisp baseline returns.

Playing with a great deal of determination, Mankad broke his challenger in the eighth game and held his serve in the subsequent game to wrap up the first set 6-3, in about 25 minutes.

Mankad started the ninth game with a double fault to find himself trailing 0-30 at one stage but made amends by firing in two aces to eventually pocket the game and the set.

Mankad seemed even more devastating in the second set as he not only fired in a number of aces but unleashed some brilliant backhand baseline returns, giving his opponent no chance at all.

The Indian took tight control of the proceedings by breaking Udomchoke in the very first game of the second set, capitalising on a few unforced errors by the top seed.

Trailing 0-2, the Thai youngster struggled to hold serve in the third game but eventually managed to clinch the game to reduce the margin to 2-1.

But the hot and humid morning conditions seemed to take its toll on Udomchoke who started playing more erratically as the match wore on, making things easier for the Indian.

Realising that his opponent was struggling to find his rhythm, Mankad started to play more aggressively and broke Udomchoke in the fifth and seventh games to clinch the set 6-1 without much difficulty.


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