CHENNAI: A day after slaying Frenchman
Gael Monfils
at the
Citi Open
in Washington DC,
Yuki Bhambri
continued his dream run defeating Argentina's
Guido Pella
6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1 to enter his first ever quarterfinals of an ATP tournament.
As Bhambri finished off his opponent breaking the Argentine's serve, he looked towards the stands before breaking into a celebratory 'dab'. "I am a huge
Manchester United fan and I have seen
Paul Pogba
do the dab after scoring," said Yuki to TOI after the win. "I had told a couple of my friends who were present there that I would do it had I won, so I kept my promise," Bhambri said when asked about the celebration.
Pella, who had beaten Ramkumar Ramanathan in the first round, came into the match against Bhambri fresh off a huge win of his own against
Mischa Zverev
. In the first set, both players began on a strong note holding serves before the Argentine stepped it up in the tiebreaker.
"I was a little tired after a gruelling match against Monfils just yesterday. But I knew I would fight tooth and nail for this win and I did," the 25-year old said.
Even after going a set down Bhambri did not lose his focus and he came back and dominated the next two sets. He broke Pella almost at will to seal the passage to quarters.
"After the Monfils win it was very important for me to stay in the zone and stay fresh mentally. I was especially happy after today's win because I was able to fight through even after being a set down. I am in a good space now and I hope that I can continue this fight."
Bhambri's mother Indu too was ecstatic after her son's back-to-back wins. "I always knew Yuki had the potential in him to be one of the best. I am happy that at last the world is seeing what he is capable of," the proud mother said on Friday.
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