Pic caption: Suraj Prabodh with the coveted signia of his Wild Card entry into the Bengaluru Open ATP Challenger event. Suraj defeated Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash in the final of the Bengaluru Open Wild Card AITA ranking tennis tournament at the KSLTA on Saturday.

Bengaluru, Oct 27: Local lad and tournament favourite Suraj Prabodh earned a well-deserved wild card entry into the ensuing Bengaluru Open a USD 150,000 prize money ATP Challenger on the virtue of his victory in the Bengaluru Open Wild Card AITA ranking tennis tournament which concluded at the KSLTA here on Saturday.

In a pulsating final, the top seed Suraj overcame a fighting fourth seed Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash of Tamil Nadu 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 to take home the winner’s cheque of Rs 39,000 while Mohit was richer by Rs 27,000.  

Suraj began in the right earnest brining in some cross court winners and took advantage of the unforced errors by Mohit to race to a 3-0 lead, breaking his opponent in the first and third games. Mohit, egged on by his friends from Chennai who were a part of a sizeable crowd that witnessed the final, adopted an aggressive approach in the fourth game while breaking Suraj’s serve and holding on in the next to make a comeback. He broke again in the eighth game to level the scores. Both the players broke each other’s serve in the next two games while Mohit held his serve in the 11^th game to take the lead for the first time.  With Suraj holding serve in the 12^th, the set was decided via tie-breaker which the local favourite won 7-4.

The match seemed to get more interesting in the second set second set seemed to grow more competitive with every point being fiercely fought before each of the players held their serve until the fifth game with Suraj breaking the serve in the sixth game to go 4-2 up. Mohit won three games in a row including two breaks in the 7^th and 9^th games to take the lead 5-4 and while also serving out to win the set 6-4.

The decider too followed a similar suit until the sixth game where Suraj, with some good shots broke Mohit’s serve to go 4-2 up and held on to take a 5-2 advantage. Serving to stay in the match, Mohit served with vigor to hold his serve. However, Suraj did not take much time to win the next game and the match.

“It feels great to be on the winning side again. I think I have found the mojo I was looking for,” said Suraj after the victory. “It give a great sense of relief to get into the main round of the ATP Challenger,” he added.

Men’s Singles Final

1-Suraj Prabodh (KA) bt 4-Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash (TN) 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3.