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India's Rohan Gajjar knocked out top seed Kento Takeuchi of Japan 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3 to ensure an all Indian semi-final at the $15,000 International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament being played at the DLTA courts in New Delhi on Thursday.
Takeuchi was the only player from outside India in the last eight. Sixth-seeded Gajjar will face Ashutosh Singh who upset national champion and seventh-seeded Ranjith Virali-Murugesan 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3).
Yuki Bhambri has eased into the last four with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Divij Sharan. The junior Australian Open champion will now face second seed Vishnu Vardhan, who got the better of eighth-seeded Rupesh Roy 6-2, 7-6(7).
Takeuchi served out the first set with a break in the fifth game but Gajjar bounced back in the second set. Neither player dropped serves to take the set to the tie-breaker, where Gajjar prevailed to make it a set all.
A confident Gajjar began the third set by breaking Takeuchi in the first game and kept up the pressure till the last. He won the set and the match, breaking Japanese in the ninth game.
