New Delhi, Nov 26: Punna Vishal bounced back from a first set deficit to oust third seed Matwe Middelkoop of the Netherlands 4-6 6-4 6-4 in the second round of the USD 10,000 ITF Futures Men's Tennis Tournament here today. The match was headed towards a victory for the Dutch player when he was up a break 3-2 in the second set but the momentum swung drastically after Vishal broke back in the next game.
The temperamental Middelkoop, who kept his volatile temparament in check till things were going in his favour, then blew it all up, screaming and yelling at the chair umpire and the ball boys.
In fact, one felt the umpire was too lenient on the visiting player as he did not warn Middelkoop even when he flung his racquet well beyond the opponent's court. But another Dutch player, Melvyn Op Der Heijde snuffed out the challenge of 18-year old Somdev Dev Varman 6-4 6-2.
The two top seeds Harsh Mankad and Aisam Qureshi stayed on course for an Indo-Pak final. The former advanced after his opponent Naim Lalji of Great Britain retired hurt when trailing 4-6 1-2 due to a shoulder strain.
Qureshi's was yet another solid performance in which he slammed 10 aces to down Mikhail Ledovskikh of Russia 6-3 6-2.
There were some loose points from the title winner at Dehra Dun and Thailand in the preceding weeks but the Pakistani said, "That is the way I play. When I am leading, I try to be more aggressive and naturally miss some points." Bureau Report