The Hindu : Beller packs off Rushmi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 13, 2003

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Beller packs off Rushmi

By K. Keerthivasan

CHENNAI FEB. 12. Playing a patient game from the baseline armed with an impressive forehand and backhand, Varana-Marei Beller of Germany gave a fine exhibition of backcourt play to outwit the top seed Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the Madras Gymkhana Club ITF $10,000 women's tennis championship at the club courts on Wednesday.

Rushmi, ranked 386 in the WTA list, did not have the wherewithal to dismantle the opponent from the backcourt, though she came up with some fine winners and fine approach volleys. The German, a semifinalst in the $ 10,000 tourney in Pune late last year, was able to produce more winners than Rushmi was able to, and dominated most of the rallies from the backcourt.

After struggling in the first few games, getting broken in the fourth game, Beller was ruthless thereafter as she broke Rushmi's serve in the fifth, seventh and ninth with authoritative play to pocket the first set.

Realising that the need of the hour was not to out-hit Beller, but to mix it up with volleys, Rushmi did just that and raced to a 3-1 lead in the second. During the brief phase, Rushmi showed her ability — the approach volleys and the passing shots. The German known for her gritty display, came roaring back doing nothing extraordinary but just hitting repeatedly from the baseline. After breaking Rushmi in the ninth game, Beller finished the match in the tenth on her second match point when the National hardcourt champion hit a backhand long.

Joining Rushmi was the eight-seed Radhika Tulpule, a winner at the same courts two years ago. The 21-year-old Indian fought back admirably from 2-5 down in the second set to take the match into a tiebreaker, but the 18-year-old Austrian Eva Hoch proved to be a notch higher as she coasted to a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) win. Qualifier Elena Vesnina of Russia outlasted sixth-seed Da-Jung Hong of Korea 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 58 minutes.

The seeds to qualify for the last eight were Suchanan Viratprasert of Thailand, the second seed and Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan. The seventh seeded Uzbek had to fight hard for a 6-1, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4 win over qualifier Olga Panova of Russia. The only Indian to reach the quarterfinals was Samrita Sekar, who had little problems in despatching Sheethal Gowtham 7-5, 6-0.

* The results (II round): (Indian unless otherwise mentioned): Singles: Varana-Marei Beller (Ger) bt 1-Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-2, 6-4; Eva Hoch (Aut) bt 8-Radhika Tulpule 6-4, 7-6 (8-6); 2-Suchanan Viratprasert (Tha) bt Liza Pereira 6-0, 6-1; Elena Vesnina (Rus) bt 6-Da-Jung Hong (Kor) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; Samrita Sekar bt Sheethal Gowtham 7-5, 6-0; 7-Akgul Amanuradova (Uzb) bt Olga Panova (Rus) 6-1, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4; Ivanna Israilova (Uzb) bt Joulia Vorobieva (Rus) 6-4, 7-5; Diana Julianto (Ina) bt Po Kuen Lam (Hkg) 7-5, 6-2.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Rushmi Chakravarthi & Sai Jayalakshmi bt Shruti Dhawan & Sheethal Gowtham 6-1, 4-6, 6-2; Wilawan Choptang & Montinee Tangphong (Tha) bt Diana Julianto (Ina) & Radhika Tulpule 6-4, 6-1; Maki Arai (Jpn) & Suchanan Viratprasert (Tha) bt Sasha Abraham & Isha Lakhani 6-1, 6-2; Akgul Amanmuradova & Ivanna Israilova (Uzb) bt Da Jung Hong & Su Jin Kim (Kor) 0-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

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