New York: Top seed Yuki Bhambri’s title hopes went up in smoke after a stunning straight-set defeat to unseeded local favourite Chase Buchanan in the boys’ singles quarterfinal of the US Open.
The match, delayed by a day due to persistent rain ended in a heartbreaking 3-6, 6-7, (4-7) loss for the Indian, who had not dropped a set this far in the hard court event.
The match was shifted to indoor courts and the changed conditions perhaps adversely affected the reigining Australian Open champion.
The world number one junior has already crashed out of the doubles event following a shock first round defeat with his Taipei partner Liang-Chi Huang.
Buchanan then went on to win his semifinal against eighth seed Gianni Mina of France and set up a title clash against Australian third seed and string contender Bernad Tomic.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, September 13, 2009, 17:10