Ghouse rallies to enter last four

Top seed Mustafa Ghouse rallied brilliantly after dropping the first set to pip eighth seed Rafael Moreno-Negrin of Spain 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 on way to the men's singles semi-finals in the $6250 prize-money ITF men's Satellite tennis tournament in Mumbai on Thursday.

But wild card Sandeep Kirtane did not have to sweat as much in ther second quarter-final. He took an hour and 20 minutes to drub compatriot Vijay Kannan 6-2, 6-3.

Giant-killer Raviv Vokovitzky of Isreal, who had sidelined second seed and countryman Tomer Suissa, subdued another Indian wild card, Somdev Varman 6-2, 6-3 to also make the last four stage.

The Ghouse-Rafael encounter, which lasted two hours 15 minutes, had all the ingridents of a thriller. Games went with serve till 5-all before the Spaniard got the crucial break in the 11th game and then served out the set at 7-5.

In the second set, the Indian tightened his game and served much better. After a crucial break in the ninth game Ghouse served out the set at 6-4.

In the final set, the heat and humidity took its toll on the Spaniard as Ghouse broke him in the fourth game and held serve thereafter to wrap the set and match at 6-3.

Earlier reports
Ghouse, Manoj Mahadevan in last eight
Japnese qualifier shocks Kirtane