Sport - Tennis

Nicole downs Rushmi

MUZAFFAR NAGAR: Top seed Nicole Thyssen tamed a fighting Rushmi Chakravarthi 7-6(5), 7-6(4) in the semifinals of the $10,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament here on Thursday.

Sanaa Bhambri kept the Indian hopes alive as she blanked sixth seed Emily Webley-Smith of Britain.

It was a classic contest between Rushmi and the 230th ranked Nicole, as both served well mixing their shots nicely with deft drops and crafty slices. But a painful right arm that needed medical attention and a marginally slower pair of feet cost fourth seed Rushmi the match.

Nicole’s big serves and her ability to come up with telling drops tilted the match in her favour in the tie-breaks.

Earlier, Sanaa Bhambri spent only 36 minutes on court breezing past Emily Smith, as she did not face even a token of resistance from the Briton, who won a mere 18 points in all in the 12 games of the match.

The fifth-seeded Sanaa looked to be conserving her energy for the singles final, as she in partnership with Rushmi, walked away with the doubles title, outclassing the qualifiers Shalini Sahoo and Treta Bhattacharya for the loss of two games.

The results: Singles: Semifinals: Nicole Thyssen (Ned) bt Rushmi Chakravarthi 7-6(5), 7-6(4); Sanaa Bhambri bt Emily Webley-Smith (GBR) 6-0, 6-0.

Doubles: Final: Sanaa Bhambri and Rushmi Chakravarthi bt Treta Bhattacharya and Shalini Sahoo 6-1, 6-1.

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