Sai Jayalakshmy stamps her authority

By Kamesh Srinivasan

GWALIOR, OCT. 21. Sai Jayalakshmy put her best foot forward in stamping out the challenge from Andrea van den Hurk 4-1, 5-3, 4-0 in the final of the $10,000 ITF women's circuit tennis tournament at the Jiwaji Club courts here on Saturday.

It was the second title from her third final for the 23-year-old Sai, who ran away with the winner's purse of $1600 and five WTA points.

Serving well and stroking with confidence Sai was a step ahead of her rival this day, and once she saved a setpoint in the sixth game of the second set, she marched ahead without any fuss.

On the other hand, the 21-year-old Andrea was a little tired after her energy-sapping encounter against Rushmi Chakravarthi in the semifinals, and was a little slow in her movements. The Dutch's backhand slice was not effective as Sai countered them with positive strokes. Andrea, who had to be content with $1000 and four WTA points, was also quite erratic and committed as many as 51 unforced errors, to 34 by Sai.

Andrea dropped serve in the fourth game of the first set, and the first game of the second with doublefaults. In fact, she had six doublefaults to five by Sai. She also helped Sai convert the third setpoint in the eighth game of the second set, with a loose shot, after the Indian had missed two setpoints.

``There is a huge difference in being 1-1 and two sets to love. The opponent starts thinking that she has to win three more sets. That can be very tough psychologically,'' said Sai, quite pleased with the way she had recaptured her form, after an indifferent performance in the last three events.

Sai also did well to save three breakpoints in the decider in clinching the final set at love, plugging all the escape routes for her opponent, who had rallied from two sets down on Friday.

``I was a little tight after yesterday's tough match. But that is no excuse. Sai played well, and deserved to win,'' said Andrea, who was unable to handle the pacy drives of Sai that were nicely directed into the vacant region.

``She was not hitting hard, so I had the time to play my strokes. I didn't give her pace to play her slice. Well, it has so much to do with confidence,'' said Sai, who has maintained the good trend of the Indians winning the international titles at home, for the third event in a row. Manisha Malhotra triumphed in Delhi, while Radhika Tulpule and Rushmi Chakravarthi shared the title in Bangalore.

``It is a matter of one of us winning the title. Earlier there were no tournaments in India. Now, I don't think it is impossible for us to go out and win tournaments abroad. Nirupama and Manisha have done it,'' said Sai.

There was no dearth of confidence, concentration or fierce determination on the part of Sai this day. She did not allow a stray cattle, running around the court midway through the second set, to distract her.

In the doubles final, the experience of Larissa Schaerer and the youthful exuberance of Monica Acosta helped the third-seeded Paraguayan pair beat the top-seeded Indian combination of Rushmi Chakravarthi and Sai Jayalakshmy in four sets.

It was the first title this season from her third final for the seasoned Larissa, who has three titles at the $25,000 and one in the $75,000 event, apart from half a dozen at the $10,000 level.

Of course, it was the maiden doubles title for the 17- year-old Acosta, who had reached the quarterfinals of the tournament last week in Egypt during her maiden partnership with Larissa.

For Sai and Rushmi, it was their fifth final at the $10,000 level, and they had to be content with the runner-up spot for the third time, though they kept the home crowd in good humour with their lively play. The doubles winners shared a prize money of $650, and the runners-up were presented $350.

The prizes were presented by Mr. Justice Shravan Shankar Jha.

The results (final):

Singles: Sai Jayalakshmy bt Andrea van den Hurk (Ned) 4-1, 5-3, 4-0.

Doubles: Monica Acosta and Larissa Schaerer (Par) bt Rushmi Chakravarthi and Sai Jayalakshmy 4-2, 4- 1, 0-4, 5-3.

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