ATP Challenger | Gomez toughs it out against Kasnikowski

Federico Agustin Gomez had enjoyed smooth sailing in the draw till he faced his first big test in the Chennai Open ATP Challenger semifinal against Maks Kasnikowski before winning in three sets to set up a title clash with Frederico Ferreira Silva.

The second seeded Argentine, ranked 196 in the world, served consistently and broke serve once to take the opening set. His Polish opponent fought back superbly and soon had him on the backfoot. Kasnikowski improved his serving and broke Gomez twice to level the match.

The decider saw the two players raise their level of play, Gomez in particular. The Argentine served very well and importantly his returns did a lot of damage. He broke Kasnikowski’s serve on two occasions and won 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in over two hours.

In the second semifinal, Portugal’s Ferreira Silva didn’t have much trouble in getting past fourth seed Ilia Simakin of Russia 6-4, 6-2.

Ferreira Silva is yet to drop a set here this week and is chasing his first Challenger singles title.

The top-seeded Indo-Thai duo of Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha and Pruchya Isaro won the doubles title, beating Jay Clarke and Mukund Sasikumar 6-4, 6-4.

The results: Semifinals: Federico Agustin Gomez (Arg) bt Maks Kasnikowski (Pol) 6-3, 2-6, 7-5; Frederico Ferreira Silva (Por) bt Ilia Simakin (Rus) 6-4, 6-2.

Doubles: Final: Pruchya Isaro (Tha) & Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha bt Jay Clarke (GBr) & Mukund Sasikumar 6-4, 6-4.