Vishnu Vardhan keeps Indian hopes alive, reaches semis

New Delhi, Mar 16 (UNI) Underdog J Vishnu Vardhan staged a remarkable comeback to keep India's hopes alive after he pulled the rug from under the feet of fifth seeded Italian Manuel Jorquera to move into the semifinal of the ITF Satellite Masters at the DLTA Complex here today.

After losing the first set and with his back on the wall, Vishnu Vardhan bounced back with vengeance to stun the seeded Italian and walked away with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win to reach the last four stage.

In the semifinal, he will take on another Italian, fourth seeded Federico Torresi, who thrashed Alexey Kedriouk of Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-4.

Meanwhile, top seeded Australian Herbert Wiltschnig was jolted out of complacence by Patrick Tierro of Philippines before the former chalked out a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 win.

Uzbek Murad Inoyatov also scripted an upset with his 3-6, 6-0, 7-6(3) win against his third seeded compatriot Sarvar Ikramov. He meets Wiltschnig in the other semifinal tomorrow.

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