Fourth seed Chandril Sood of Uttar Pradesh came from a set down to subdue top seed and last year's runner-up Nitin Kirtane of Maharashtra 4-6 6-1 7-6(2) and set up a title clash against second seed Mohit Mayur of Tamil Nadu in the men's singles final of Rs 3.5 lakh DS Max Top Spin AITA Prize Money tennis championship.
In a seesaw semifinal, which lasted almost three hours, Chandril overcame his self doubt and quite a few unforced errors to down a gritty Kirtane.
Chandril was brilliant with his returns but often made unnecessary errors. He, however, gathered his wits and staged a fine recovery to stop his rival, who was almost twice his age and had far more experience.
Kirtane got off to a great start and broke his opponent in the ninth game to claim the opening set at 6-4. But Chandril was at his best in the second set as he gave no chance to Kirtane, blasting winners on both flanks to outsmart him 6-1.
In the decider, Chandril got distracted by a couple of adverse line calls and a pumped-up Kirtane cashed on his rival's unforced errors. He broke the lad from UP in the fourth and sixth games to take a 5-2 lead.
But a determined Chandril fought back to level it 5-5 and take the set into a tie-break.
