Sridhar, Ramaswami in Futures final

National hardcourt champion Vinod Sridhar beat Juraj Hasko of Slovakia in straight sets to set up a title clash with National Games gold medallist Ajay Ramaswami in the $10,000 ITF men's Futures tennis tournament in Delhi on Saturday.

In Friday's semi-finals, Sridhar beat second seed Hasko 6-4, 6-3 while Ramaswami needed a little more than an hour for a 6-2, 6-3 victory over compatriot Jaco T Mathew.

Both the players had unexpectedly easy semi-final outings. Sridhar was not really tested by the Slovak, who was hampered in his movements by a foot injury, while experience played a huge role in the match between Ramaswami and young Mathew.

Sridhar, who varied his game according to the needs of the moment, played a waiting game against Hasko to enter the final of an ITF tournament for the first time in his career.

With the second seed struggling to get his game right, Sridhar was happy to just put the ball back in the court and let his opponent do the rest.

"Yes, if the opponent is a serve and volleyer I would like to get to the net before he does.

"But Hasko plays strong shots, so I just stayed back and made sure the returns were right," Sridhar said after the match.

Hasko, in fact, was a disappointment. A winner of four Futures titles, the Slovak was the most watched player after he ousted Indian Davis Cup player Harsh Mankad in the first round. But a line call on 30-40 early in the first set went against him and he never got his focus right after that.

Ramaswami is in that stage of his career where one good or bad showing could change the course of his future. The youngster from Matunga, Mumbai, has till now been without a professional coach and is aware that the next year or two would be crucial.

"I am through with my studies. I would like to study more but don't want to juggle with two things at the same time," he said.

That clarity of thought was visible in his clinical disposal of Mathew. Ramaswami, who lays emphasis on high fitness, confined himself to strong ground strokes from the baseline and that paid rich dividends against a player who has just entered the professional tennis circuit.

Earlier reports
Vinod Sridhar battles his way into semis
Ajay Ramaswami halts Ivanov's run
Four seeds bite the dust