Fifth seed Russian Michail Elgin clinched his maiden ATP Challenger title, beating unseeded Czech Tomas Cakl in a thrilling summit clash of the $ 50,000 SAIL Open in New Delhi on Saturday.
Elgin won 7-6 (4) 6-7 (6) 6-3 in an over two-hour battle to take home a prize money of $ 7,200 and 55 ATP points.
"This is my first Challenger title and I am obviously pleased. I am totally exhausted and would be heading home now to rest my tired body," said a tired Elgin, who lost the doubles final with Pavel Chekhov last evening.
Despite the Indian challenge ending yesterday with Sunil Kumar Sipaeya's loss, there was considerable interest in the match with spectators backing the Russian, perhaps wanting him to avenge Sipaeya's loss to Cakl in the semifinals.
"The crowd backed me but I think there were certain reasons for that," he said with a smile. Elgin, nonetheless, did not disappoint the fans, earning three break points with his forehand winners in the very first game.
But Cakl managed to save all three with his fine serve and some errors committed by Elgin.
Elgin got another chance to break Cakl as he led 40-15 in the third game and this time the Russian hit a backhand winner to complete the job.
Not the one to give up easily, Cakl broke back in the eighth game to make it 4-4. Both the players held serve after that as the set went into a tie-breaker, in which Elgin's precision came out trumps over Cakl's intensity.
However, the unseeded Czech did not let the opening setback affect him and came back strongly in the second set, breaking Elgin in the third game.
But Cakl could not hold his serve either and was broken in the next game. Both the players exchanged a couple of more breaks of serve before Cakl needed a medical time-out for cramps.
The treatment seemed to have rejuvenated the tempramental Czech, who outlasted an increasingly wiery Elgin in the tie-breaker to draw level and take the match into the decider.
It turned out be a one-sided affair as Elgin capitalised on Cakl's errors and broke him twice before sealing the match with a brilliant forehand winner much to the delight of local fans.
A dejected Cakl, meanwhile, once again seemed rattled by the crowd's hooting and broke his racquet in frustration.
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