Sahil Deshmukh's heroics kept Indian Flag Flying
World Juniors Tennis Finals
Prostejov, Czech Republic

August 03, 2011.

From TK Tennis Center at Prostejov, Czech Republic

For the first time in last 3 days, we saw sunshine in Prostejov and it couldn't have been better as India beat Spain 2-1 today in the 2 nd league match of the World Junior Tennis.

It was again Sahil Deshmukh who came to the rescue of the Indian team when he demolished the Spanish No. 1 Pedro Martinez Protero 6-4, 6-0.

Sahil started off to a sluggish start which saw him go down 0-3 in the first set. He then changed tactics to start attacking the big Protero on his body which made things difficult for the Spaniard. He quickly leveled to 3-3 when the big serving Protero again held his serve to go up 4-3. Sahil then played splendidly and gave no chance and took the match without losing a game from there.  

The tie should have been over with Sahil's win. However, it was a heartbreaking loss for Indian No. 2 player Garvit Batra who lost to opponent Miguel Semmler Arranz 1-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Garvit lost a match point while serving 5-3 at 40-30 and 3 more when the Spaniard was serving 4-5 at 0-40. Cramps made it difficult for Garvit and he couldn't do much from there.  

India had to depend on the combination of Sahil Deshmukh / Sumit Nagal to pull of the wonderfully contested doubles tie. The Indian pair beat Portero / Arranz 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. After losing the first set, the Indians pulled up their socks and got their act together. Sahil played a very crucial role as he controlled the match from the second set in a very matured manner.  

Tomorrow, we will take on the No. 2 seeds Romania, who are still unbeaten in the group.

A win tomorrow will ensure India's passage to the semifinals of this championship as the toppers of the group D.