India's top tennis players Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri set up the Delhi Open title clash against each other after scoring contrasting victories in their respective semifinals of the USD 100,000 ATP Challenger, here today.
It turned out to be a walk in the park for Somdev, who outplayed Belgium's Kimmer Coppejans 6-3 6-1 in the first semifinal, which lasted just 65 minutes.
Barring the first seven games of the match, it was one-way traffic as 183-ranked Coppejans hardly put up a fight. It was surprising to see the Belgian not testing Somdev since he had played some good matches on the way to the semifinal.
Wild card Yuki came from a set down to win 4-6 6-4 7-5 against another Belgium player Ruben Bemelmans, but he was again found struggling to contain unforced errors, which could have cost him the match had the Belgian not been equally error-prone.
Yuki set the bar high with his upset win over second seed but failed to maintain the tempo, while Somdev has gone better with every match.
Yuki, without doubt, has a solid game but he will have to execute it against Somdev to stop him annexing the second consecutive Delhi Open trophy.
Asked about his unforced errors against Ruben, the 22-year-old Yuki said, "I had not played him before, so I was not sure. I was trying different things and it was not working. It took me a while to read him.
"He was not serving well in the second set and I was enjoying rallies," he replied when asked what turned it around for him.
Talking about the final against Somdev, to whom he lost in the first round of the Hong Kong Challenger recently, Yuki said whoever handles the pressure better will win the trophy.
"We have seen enough of each other on the circuit and in Davis Cup too. It's all about handling the pressure of the final now."
Somdev broke Coppejans in the eighth game and served out the opening set in the next. The momentum shifted suddenly and it became a no-contest after the first set. Coppejans' unending errors made it easy for Somdev.
"It was not easy. It was a tricky match. I put pressure on him with new balls but it could have been anybody's match," Somdev said.
