Henrique Rocha's streak of 12 consecutive victories and the Portuguese tennis player's unbeaten run in Vale do Lobo ended, after the defeat of the national number four with Khumoyun Sultanov, in the singles semi-final of the Vale do Lobo Open II, ITF M25, which runs until tomorrow at Vale do Lobo Tennis Academy.
Tomorrow's final, Sunday, will feature Khumoyun Sultanov and Jules Marie as protagonists.
Henrique Rocha started the game leading up to the final winning 4-0, but saw Sultanov win 10 consecutive games and triumph 6-4 and 6-2 to avenge the defeat inflicted by the Portuguese in last week's semi-finals.
With a small inconvenience in his right shoulder, the 19-year-old tennis player did not present a serve and a forehand at the level he had been producing recently and was defeated in 1h31 minutes.
«I wasn't expecting such a good level from him. Last week I had a tough game against him, but, as I said, it wasn't one of my best encounters of the week. I started the duel well, but the 4-0 was misleading because it was a divided game and everything was going my way. Until 6-4 it was balanced, but everything was going well for him. He served better than me and that was where he made the main difference, as well as the response», analyzed Rocha at the end of the appointment.
Sultanov's merit, for the Portuguese tennis player, cannot be questioned: «In the warm-up I felt my shoulder a little, but it was nothing special and even during the match I didn't feel anything special either. On the right he was feeling a little, his ball is very straight and when he played faster he sometimes felt something. Nothing special or worrying.”
«He failed very little. I tried to vary it with some slices, going up to the net to see if he lost his references a little in his response, but in fact he always played well. I tried to go through everything a little, but he always remained very solid and deserved to win", he highlighted.
In this way, «two important campaigns for Henrique Rocha ended: he lost for the first time in these two weeks at Vale do Lobo (he won the title in the first week and eight consecutive triumphs in singles, in addition to the four doubles alongside his brother in the first trophy of this fortnight) and saw a series of 12 consecutive successes interrupted, starting at Jamor on the way to the absolute national title, and 21 in the last 22 clashes", according to the Portuguese Tennis Federation, which organizes the competition.
The dream of the Australian Open is, however, not put aside and the young man from Porto is now heading to Maia to compete in the 100 category Challenger, in which he should need to add two victories (he is currently ranked 277 ATP and will enter the final tournament of the year in the top 250) to be able to enter the first qualifying of the 2024 season in Grand Slam events.
For Sultanov, 436th in the ranking and former top 300 in 2020, this Saturday's rematch guaranteed the fourth final of the season and the new of his career. The sixth-seeded player is still looking for his first trophy of 2023, but he has three on his record, two in the ITF 25 category.
In the final match of the tournament, the best tennis player in Uzbekistan will face Frenchman Jules Marie (253rd). The second seed overcame Paul Jubb (894th, but formerly 196th) in 2h57 minutes with scores of 6-7(7), 6-4 and 6-3.
The experienced 32-year-old Frenchman led 5-3 in the first half and had a set point, but dealt well with his frustration to prevail in three tough sets, twice canceling a break of disadvantage in the early stages of the second half.
The Vale do Lobo Open II final – scheduled for 12 noon this Sunday with free entry to all present – will be the seventh of the year (30th of his career) for Jules Marie, who is looking for his fifth trophy of the year ( 18th in the record), first since winning the Porto Open (also ITF M25) at the end of July.
If successful, the Frenchman will win his fourth title on national soil, as he was twice successful in 2013 in Guimarães.
Closing the penultimate day of the fortnight, David Poljak and Matej Vocel (third seeds) won a 100% Czech pairs final against Hynek Barton and Michal Lusovsky (fourth favorites and finalists also in the first tournament). The challenge ended with scores of 4-6, 6-3 and 11-9 and Poljak and Vocel saved a championship point at 9-8 in the match tie-break.
Photos: Portuguese Tennis Federation
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