Aljaz Bedene defeated Bautista Agut 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 in Chennai on Saturday. (Source: PTI)

It was the most thrilling singles game of the Chennai Open. Packed with high quality and drama, it went down to the wire as Aljaz Bedene saved four match points, two of them in the deciding tiebreaker, to seal what must be a really satisfying win against Bautista Agut.

Agut had started grunting very early into the semi-final. As the match wore on and Agut started tiring, the grunt transformed into a long wail that at times seemed to extend to a few seconds after the shot was done.

Bedene was eerily quiet through the game. Not a squeak came out. Just the thudding of his shoes on the hard court could be heard. Thud, thud, thud.

Agut is 26. He is a player who has found himself mid-career. In fact it’s just now at 26 that he has broken through the top 60 for the first time.

Bedene is 25. He looks 22 and played like one, right till the end. Not an ounce of body fat on him. Lithe, extremely fit, the jersey clung to his torso as if it were body paint. He had risen through the qualifiers in this tournament and played more games than most.

Agut’s serves aren’t powerpacked. At times even his first serve was in 170 kmph, which in tennis terms isn’t much. He relied on the placement, the angles and the swerve.

At times, the ball would curve away thrillingly after landing as the racquet head would come at an angle. Bedene was belting it over 200 kmph. The angles weren’t so acute but he had enough power to earn service winners at vital times.

He won’t forget four of them which came on a trot. At 15, 40, and 4-5 in the third set he had two break points against him. He saved them with two service winners before sealing the game with two blistering aces.

Agut is a solid player; the forehand with its eastern grip serves minimal spin and he clearly prefers running around his backhand. Bedene likes his forehand — flat and hard, but Agut was trying to target his backhand at most times.

In the end, the match came down to two backhand volleys. Neither player prefers the shot but the match came down to their weakness. Agut had a match point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker after three hard-fought sets. It was a long 22-shot rally and by the end Agut had moved towards the dominant position on the court.

Bedene was running hard, retrieving and trying to get in a powerful forehand but was slowly pushed wide off the court to his left. Agut moved close to the net by then and it seemed it could end then. Somehow, Bedene pushed himself to come up with a serviceable backhand.

It wasn’t sensational, it wasn’t really powerful but it had enough legs to start dipping after it crossed the net. Nothing alarming but there it was slowly dipping.

If Agut had more confidence in his volley, or wasn’t that tired out by that stage, he could have killed the match then and there. Instead, his tentativeness meant he sort of froze, turning the shot into a more difficult pick-up volley. And it went to the net.

Agut’s next chance came immediately. Again, his backhand volley failed him. Another one sunk into the net. Game over.

Bedene hustled in the next few points to induce errors and sunk on his knee to savour what has been a really special week in Chennai.

Wawrinka prevails

Defending champion Stan Wawrinka defeated David Goffin 7-5, 6-3 in the second semi-final. The Swiss top seed will face qualifier Aljaz Bedene in the final.

The first game went with serve before Wawrinka pulled ahead, winning a break point in five attempts. In the second, the world No. 4 broke serve early and despite the Belgiuan pressing, managed to see off the challenge.