Mumbai, Dec 05: Indian Davis Cupper and second seed Harsh Mankad and unseeded Jasper Smit of Netherlands will clash in the men's singles final of the 10,000 USD prize money MSLTA-ITF futures tennis championship at the Dr Ranade Centre here tomorrow. In the semi-finals today Mankad rallied magnificently, after dropping the first set, to pip his unseeded compatriot Ajay Ramaswami 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 7-6 (7-2) in a marathon three hours match while Smit sidelined another unseeded Indian Vinod Sridhar 6-3 7-6 (7-2) in one hour 20 minutes.
There was nothing to choose between Mankad and Ramaswami both fighting hard for every point till the end.
The games went with serves forcing the tie-break in the first set. Ramaswami took an early 4-2 lead in the tie-break and looked set to walk away with the set before Mankad fought well to square the scores at 4-all.
However, a couple of unforced error from Mankad saw his rival not only regain the lead but also win the tie-break at 7-4. In the second set the Davis Cup star took an early lead with a break in the fourth game and never looked back winning the set at 6-2 with another break in the eighth game.
The third set saw both the players fight for supremacy with neither willing to give an inch. Like the first set the games went with serves forcing the tie-break in the deciding set.
In the tie-break Mankad took 4-2 lead after his rival levelled at 2-all. He not only increased the lead but also went on to win the tie-break and the match at 7-2. Bureau Report