An all-American duel: Zane Khan to face off Crawford on the 15K Men’s ITF Finals

The $15,000 Men’s ITF Championships finals in Pune may have 19-year-old American Zane Khan tackle compatriot Oliver Crawford on the Deccan Gymkhana onerous courts. Winner of the legs in Lucknow and Indore, Khan made it to his third straight remaining, the place he may have his second run-in with Crawford within the ITF circuit, after getting the higher of their opponents within the semi-final rounds on Saturday.
In the primary semi-final, Khan opened the primary set with an ace and had the set tipped in his favour after he broke the 25-year-old Swedish participant within the second and fourth sport, closing the set with a straight 6-1. In set two, Mridha (ATP rank 584) appeared to have discovered his stride after pocketing a breakpoint within the second sport and by the seventh sport he was up 5-2. Khan made a comeback from being 2-5 down by successful 5 video games in a row, ending the match 6-1,7-5.
“The second set of the match was a bit of a roller coaster. The guy took a medical time out but started to play harder and better in the second set. It did not really distract me but I began to lose my temper in the first half of the second set, at how bad I was playing and I let it get to me. I had some bad serves and missed some balls. When I got broken I started to hang in there. I knew I had to fix my attitude if I wanted any chance to compete with him,” Khan stated after the match.
Currently working with former skilled tennis participant Sebastien Grosjean and his crew at Tennium High Performance Program again dwelling, Khan stated he’s a a lot quicker and stronger model of himself, which helps him recuperate higher after matches. “During the lockdown I focused on my physical as well as worked on myself mentally, so I am not getting as injured. I had a strict diet that I followed under my fitness coach and within the first month, I lost about 20 pounds, but he is a good fitness coach who is looking after me,” he stated.
Although Khan has hyperlinks to India from his maternal household, he stated he has by no means visited the nation earlier than. “My maternal grandparents and my mother were from Delhi. I have never come here before but after my matches at 25K in Naples, it was a last moment decision to play here,” he stated.– Stay up to date with the newest Pune information. Follow Express Pune on Twitter right here and on Facebook right here. You also can be part of our Express Pune Telegram channel right here.
Meanwhile, in one other semi-final, the match turned a one-sided affair after American participant Oliver Crawford broke Manish Sureshkumar (ATP rank 666) within the seventh sport within the first set, closing in with 6-4. By set two, he broke the already jaded Chennai lad within the third and the fifth sport, closing the set 6-2 with no wiggle room for fightback.
“It was a good match but I do know that we both did not play our best today. I think it was a tough day to play. He is a good player and has had a couple of close matches this tournament, so I believe he was tired today. So it was good to get on him early and to continue to go from there. He tried to fight back in the second set but it is always better to win straight sets to get more time to recover from the day’s match,” stated Crawford, who presently trains on the LTP Tennis Academy.
Talking about being within the ITF finals with Khan, Crawford (ATP rank 576) stated, “He is playing unbelievably well. He is in his third final and he is not going to be any easy opponent. I have played with him before and it was a good match. I am slowly finding my rhythm. I am just competing well and playing the bigger moments by keeping it together,” he stated.Meanwhile, newly topped nationwide champion Arjun Khade and Switzerland’s Luca Castelnuovo clinched the doubles title on the $15,000 Men’s ITF tennis championships. In the double’s finals held within the second half of Saturday, the Khade-Castelnuovo duo gained a powerful victory over Irishman Simon Carr and American Alexander Kotzen 6-4, 7-5.