Simon Greul of Germany lifted the singles title in the USD 15000 ITF Futures Tennis Championship with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Croatia's Ivan Cerovic in Bangalore on Saturday.
Third seeded Greul, who defeated India's Prakash Amirtraj in the semi-final, had no difficulty in brushing aside the Croatian's challenge in what turned out to be a one-sided contest.
One expected Cerovic to put up a much better performance, especially after his shock victory over top-seeded Aisam Qureshi of Pakistan in the semi-final earlier in the day.
In two gruelling sets that lasted more than two hours, Cerovic overcame his fancied rival 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/4) to enter the title round where he faltered.
After the match, Qureshi, who was playing in Bangalore for the first time, said he played well but was unlucky to lose.
"I didn't have a single break point against my name," he said. "I guess tie-breakers are always about who's fortunate on the day."
While Qureshi was having the rough end of the stick in Bangalore, the Pakistan cricket team also found the going tough in the first one-day international against India in Kochi.
"It was a bad day for Pakistan sports," concluded the 24-year-old.
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