Tournament number three seed, Siberia’s Pedja Krstin, on Thursday had a comeback win 4-6, 6-7, 6-3 to book a place at the semifinal of the ongoing 2017 Governor’s Cup Tennis.
Krstin defeated his arch rival, Frenchman Leny Mitjana, number eight seed, in a hot contest at the Centre Court of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Court, Onikan.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the match lasted over three hours as Frenchman Mitjana took the lead to win the first set 6-4.
But Krstin rose up to expectation of the spectators’ as he upturned the second set beating his opponent 6-7.
He enjoyed massive cheers from the crowd who responded with claps with his good rallies.
In a post-match interview with NAN, Krstin said he almost lost the match.
He said: “I almost lost the match; it was the encouragements from the crowd that motivate me not to give up and go all out.
“When I broke my opponent serve it gave me more confidence that I could take the game.
“It was a long match and we were both tired, especially in the second set where I had to fight for points.”
Krstin said he lost the first set due to his opponent’s better playing strategies.
He said: “I lost out the first set because I wasn’t playing my game; my opponent forced me to play to his pattern that was the reason I lost the first set.
“In the second set I was able to adapt to a new pattern which my opponent find difficult to cope with.
“But after breaking his serve in the third set, I was able to force him to play to pattern suitable for me.
“I will give him kudos; he is a good base-line player that knows how to rally with the ball.”
Meanwhile, in other matches played in the men’s single, unseeded player Johan Tatlot created an upset as he defeated Cem Ilkem, tournament number four seed in three sets, 6-5, 4-6, 2-6.
Tournament number one seed Prajnesh Gunn Eswaran had an easy ride with unseeded Tom Jomby in two sets, 7-6, 6-0.
Karin-Mohammed Maamoun, seeded two from Egypt defeated unseeded Hugo Largo from Spain in two sets 6-0, 6-0 to qualify to the semi-finals.
In the women’s category, unseeded Deniz Khazaniuk of Isreal qualified for the semi-final after her opponent, Clothilde De Bernardi, retired in the second set due to stomach upset.
Conny Perrin, seeded number one from Switzerland showed off number eight seed, Ana Sofia- Sanchez of Mexico in two sets 6-3, 6-2.
The finals of the second leg will hold October 21 at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Court, Onikan.