The Hindu : Sai Jayalakshmy cruises past Po-Kuen

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 01, 2003

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Sai Jayalakshmy cruises past Po-Kuen

By Nandakumar Marar

India's Sai Jayalakshmy goes for a forehand return against Hong Kong's Po-Kuen Lam in the ITF Mumbai Futures tennis tournament on Monday. — Photo: Vivek Bendre

MUMBAI MARCH 31. Sai Jayalakshmy enhanced her prospects of making a mark on the International Tennis Federation's women's circuit this season with an emphatic 6-4, 6-3 victory over Hong Kong's Po-Kuen Lam on Monday. The well-travelled Indian international, seeded number three in the singles draw of the Cricket Club of India-ITF Mumbai Futures, cruised into the second round of this $ 10,000 event.

Po-Kuen is a known opponent to the Indian, but her ability to put the ball back into play made Sai work hard for every point. The first round tie lasted one hour, six minutes, longer than expected for the second seed who reached the quarterfinal in the singles in a Futures event at Bangalore this season. The faster CCI courts also required time to adjust.

The hardest worker among Indians on court on the opening day was local girl Sonal Phadke, who came back after a first set loss to defeat Thimjapo Chhattida 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a thriller stretching almost two hours. The Thailand girl raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set, a head start, which may have even taken her by surprise. The 11th seed broke back twice in the sixth and eighth games to catch up at 4-5.

Sonal, ranked 618th on the WTA list, had found her rhythm by then and began playing the game expected from her in the second set, bounding to a 4-1 lead aided by two breaks, held her nerve when the unheralded Thai girl hit back with breaks in the seventh to draw level 4-4. A vital break in the 10th game after having held serve with difficulty forced the match into the decider.

The Indian was again at the receiving end as Chattida pocketed the first three games in final set. The match reached an interesting phase by then, both indulging in solid strokeplay for every point before the local girl gained two breaks to advance into the second round. The end was dramatic with Sonal, up 5-4, moved to matchpoint following a double-fault by the Thai at 30-40, who netted a return.

Sai's doubles partner and second seed Rushmi Chakravarthi defeated Samrita Sekar 6-3, 6-3 and eighth seed Megha Vakharia outlasted Ankita Bhambri 6-2, 7-5 in two other well-contested first round games.

The only foreigner to advance was strapping Uzbek player Akgul Amanmuradova, powering past her German rival in straight sets.

The CCI_ITF Mumbai Futures is organised by Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association under the auspices of All India Lawn Tennis Association.

The results (Indians unless specified): singles (1st round): Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) bt Franiska Etzel (Ger) 6-2, 6-3; 3-Sai Jayalakshmy bt Po-Kuen Lam (Hong Kong) 6-4, 6-3; 2-Rushmi Chakravarthi bt Samrita Sekar 6-3, 6-2; 8-Megha Vakharia bt Ankita Bhambri 6-2, 7-5; 11-Sonal Phadke bt Thimjapo Chattida (Thailand) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

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