Date:19/02/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/02/19/stories/2004021906791900.htm

Sport - Tennis

Widjaja and Salkic cause a flutter

By A. Joseph Antony

Marion Bartoli in action against Galina Fokina. - Photo: Satish. H

HYDERABAD, FEB. 18. Two upsets marked the singles second round of the WTA-ING Vysya Hyderabad Open at the Sports Authority of Andhra complex here on Wednesday with the seventh and eighth seeds, Maria Elena Camerin and Lubomira Kurhajcova, making their exits.

Camerin succumbed to Angelique Widjaja 3-6, 4-6 while Mervana Jugic Salkic subdued Kurhajcova 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-3.

Power was the key word in the over two-hour tussle between Kurhajcova and Salkic on court 1. The exchanges were blistering, the diagonal returns mostly deciding the points. Kurhajcova's fiery first serve lost much of its bite when Salkic directed her responses where she wanted to and almost always on target. Opening up her rival's court, Salkic pounced on the defensive lobs that came her way.

A National of Bosnia-Herzgovina, Salkic showed her intentions early enough, breaking the deadlock of games going with serve in the fourth. Kurhajcova was quick to overcome such reversals, but went increasingly on the defensive as the match wore on.

The eighth seed, berating herself often, looked submerged by the barrage which often pushed her behind the baseline. Across the net, Salkic advanced more and more menacingly, clearly emerging dominant in the slugfest.

On centre court, Widjaja broke Camerin in the second and sixth games. The Indonesian was up 5-1 at one stage, but found Camerin catching up to 3-5. Serving out in the ninth, she held her ground to take the set 6-3.

In the second, Widjaja wrested serve in the first, third and ninth games while Camerin paid back in kind in the second and sixth. Widjaja warded off three break points in the eighth, denying the Italian, up 4-3, a golden chance to surge ahead in the second set.

Widjaja, junior Wimbledon champion in 2001, said after the win that she knew she'd pull it off. For the past six months, she hadn't been doing well and it was important that she did well here, the Bandung resident said.

Bartoli's double-fisted shots left Galina Fokina breathless. Directing her campaign from the backcourt, banging away from both flanks, the Frenchwoman never conceded the advantage. Fokina would come up with a big serve and follow it up at times with a double fault.

Nicole Pratt's superiority was never in doubt against Adriana Serra Zanetti, the former's first serve percentage high and her second serve too having enough sting. Wresting the Italian's serve in the first, third and seventh games, Pratt's all-court game came to the fore and she prevailed 7-4 in the tie-breaker.

A breakdown in the lighting system necessitated a shift from court 1 to three, but only after a good half-hour was lost.

In the second set, the Australian brooked no resistance once she restricted her errors to a minimum. She often had Zanetti on the run from one end of the baseline to the other. Pratt's cross-court backhands were too good for Zanetti who proved no match for the fourth seed.

The results:

Singles (second round): Maria Elena Camerin (Ita) lost to Angelique Widjaja (Indo) 3-6, 4-6; Lubomira Kurhajcova (Slo) lost to Mervana Jugic Salkic (Bos-Herz) 6-7 (7), 6-4, 3-6; Jelena Kostanic (Cro) bt Vera Douchevina (Rus) 6-1, 6-3; Marion Bartoli (Fra) bt Galina Fokina (Rus) 6-2, 6-4; Nicole Pratt (Aus) bt Adriana Serra Zanetti (Ita) 7-6 (4), 6-2; Maria Kirilenko (Rus) bt Yuka Yoshida (Jap) 6-2, 6-3; Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) bt Shahar Peer (Isr) 6-3, 6-2; Jie Zheng (Chi) bt Tatiana Poutchek (Bel) 6-3, 6-2.

Tuesday's results:

Singles: Maria Kirilenko (Rus) bt Neha Uberoi (U.S.) 6-3, 7-5; Marion Bartoli (Fra) bt Ankita Bhambri (Ind) 6-1, 6-1.

Doubles: Lubomira Kurhajcova/Kelly Liggan bt Galina Fokina/Anastassia Rodionova 6-4, 7-5; Zi Yan/Jie Zheng bt Isha Lakhani/Shahar Peer 3-6, 6-1, 6-1; Ting Li/Tian Tian Sun bt Barbara Schwartz/Jasmin Woehr 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.