Karan Rastogi routs Korean opponent to lift ITF Futures title

New Delhi, Dec 30 (UNI) Fourth seed Karan Rastogi tamed giant-killer Korean Hyun-Woo Nam in straight sets to lift the State Bank of Saurashtra ITF Men's Futures title at the DLTA Complex here today.

Pitted against the Korean who, so far, had a dream run in the tournament, Karan, the local favourite never lowered his guard and chalked out a facile 6-4, 6-2 win to win the title.

Much was expected from Nam in the title showdown, especially after the Korean had tamed gritty Navdeep Singh in the first round, upsetting seventh seeded Frenchman Xavier Pujo in the second and then stunning third seeded and in-form Pakistani Aisam Qureshi in straight sets. And as if to prove it was no fluke, the Korean pulled off the biggest upset win of the tournament, stunning top seeded Kazakh Alexey Kedriouk, again in straight sets, in the semifinals.

Karan, who had dropped just one set on his way to the final, kept things under control and Nam did put up some resistance but the Indian proved just better of the two.

After losing the first set, the Korean seemed to gave given up while Karan continued with his aggressive brand of tennis. He lost just two games in this set to win the match and bag the title.

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