Ajeet Rai got back into the main draw as a Lucky Loser when Ben Lock had to withdraw after getting hit in the head by an errant ball during practice. Rai held to love in the first game against Coleman Wong, forcing the player from Hong Kong into an error to end the first good rally of the match. Rai hit a fabulous overhead volley in the next game, as well as his first ace, but the first group of six points was marred by his backhand unforced errors which lost him good rallies on the first and last of those points. They eventually worked through five deuces, with Rai having to save break points after three of them, before a backhand into the tramlines from Wong ended the game after eight and a half minutes.
The first overrule from umpire Matthew Kellert came in the next game, when the last shot of a good rally was called out by the line judge, giving the point to Rai. Wong took full advantage of the replay, thumping an ace down the middle of the court, and followed that with a beautiful cross-court forehand winner. A return error from Rai gave Wong the game, and Rai held in turn when he finished the next one with two aces. The highlight shots started to come more frequently as the players got used to the wind, with what should have been a great winning drop shot from Rai in the next game becoming a fabulous cross-court backhand winner from Wong.
Rai started his next game with a stunning angled forehand drop volley, but he gave away a break point with a truly awful backhand volley where he just stuck his racquet in the way of the ball instead of playing an actual shot. A great serve got him back to deuce, and he hit a beautiful inside-out forehand volley to end the great rally on the next point before Wong’s attempted drop shot bobbled into the net to end the game. Rai’s beautiful winning overhead volley in the next game was matched by Wong’s fabulous backhand winner down the line, but the latter was forced to hit a forehand volley into the net to lose the great rally on the next point. A backhand into the net gave Rai his first break point of the match, and he converted it with a fantastic angled forehand volley to leave himself serving for the set.
There have been many poor line calls this week, and there would be more in Rai’s doubles match later in the day, but his forehand to end a great rally was called out when it clearly hit the line. He disputed the call with the umpire, who wasn’t prepared to overrule this one, but he at least went on to win the game with a fabulous backhand down the line. That ended the set after 36 minutes.
Wong copied that last shot to win the first point in the second set and, although he lost the rallies on the next two points with unforced errors, he won the remaining points to hold serve. Rai hit two more fantastic winners in the next game, the first being a wonderful reflex backhand drop volley which was as much self-defence as anything, but the shot of the match was his incredible cross-court forehand winner off a great drop shot from Wong. Rai managed three aces in his next service game, but the highlight there was Wong’s beautiful cross-court forehand winner to end another good rally. Wong had to save a break point in the next game after getting forced into an error, doing so with a big forehand winner down the left side of the court, and he took the final point in the game with a beautiful cross-court backhand winner to end another good rally.
Things went horribly wrong for Rai when he then got broken to love, losing the last point on another overrule when a nice forehand winner down the line from Wong, that clearly landed in, had originally been called out by the line judge. Rai then hit a fabulous inside-out half-volley chip, that looked so utterly nonchalant and yet was so good. However, that had followed tow unforced errors, and he hit his next forehand into the net to give away two set points. He saved both with unreturnable serves, but more unforced errors gave away set points after the second and third deuces, with Wong converting the last one when he forced Rai to hit a forehand into the net. The set had taken 29 minutes.
Wong started the final set by holding to love, but five more unforced errors cost Rai another break of serve, this time after two deuces. Wong then hit a fabulous forehand drop shot off a ball that had hit the net cord on the way to him, but Rai hit two fabulous cross-court forehand winners to get to deuce, the first being probably the best return of serve in the match. Unfortunately he ruined that good work with two more poor backhands to allow Wong to hold serve again. Rai then had a comfortable hold to stay just one break behind, and had a chance to get back on level terms when Wong overhit a backhand to end another good rally. An ace out wide did the trick, and another gave Wong the advantage, but Rai saved the game point with a fabulous cross-court backhand lob. Another ace gave Wong the advantage again, and he forced Rai into an error to take the game.
Rai then needed only four serves to complete the quickest game of the match after just 49 seconds, but it felt like the two great rallies in the middle of the next game each probably took just about as long. Both of them went to Rai, the first through a nice overhead volley and the second when Wong was forced to hit a backhand into the net, and a forehand into the tramlines from Wong gave away a break point. He saved that when Rai’s forehand return went into the net, and two more return errors won him the game. That left Rai needing to hold to stay alive, but a fabulous backhand winner down the line from Wong gave him his first match point. One was enough, Rai hitting an inside-out forehand into the tramlines to end the contest after an hour and 44 minutes. The final score was 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.