The Hindu : Pratt sends Sania packing

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 18, 2004

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Pratt sends Sania packing

By A. Joseph Antony

Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn essaying a backhand. — Photo: Satish. H

HYDERABAD, FEB. 17. Sania Mirza bowed out of the WTA Hyderabad Open, defeated 6-4, 2-6, 2-6 by Nicole Pratt at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh complex here on Tuesday.

Wresting Pratt's serve in the second, fourth and eighth, the local girl showed greater flair and aggression. Standing out was a fiery pat from her forehand in the seventh that left Pratt without a chance. So also was a whipping down the line return of serve that fetched her the set.

Changing tack, the Australian sliced more often in the second, slowing down the pace considerably. As Pratt said later, she avoided playing to Sania's sidelines, from where the latter had called the shots earlier.

Reducing her errors to a minimum, Pratt wore down the youngster, a shade impatient at times. The fourth seed's court coverage was limited but on the few occasions she ventured to the net, she was dangerous. Of her not quite getting into the groove of her service, she said she faced problems related to altitude, but was able to sort that out as the game progressed.

Sania drew satisfaction from taking a set off her experienced opponent. The changes she was introducing to her second serve weren't in place, she said of her 13 double faults against Pratt's nine.

Reigning champion Tamarine Tanasugarn weathered an attempt by Evgenia Kulikovskaya for a comeback late into the first set, but stamped her superiority in the second to win 6-4, 6-0.

The Russian's service saw her fortunes fluctuate. Early in the match, she faltered with it, enabling Tanasugarn break her in the first, third and fifth games and lead 5-0. Even before Kulikovskaya was through with the toss on her serve, Tamarine would have made her move, resolute if not decided on where to deploy her return of serve. The Thai baseliner's responses often found Kulikovskaya out of place.

The 25-year old Moscow resident got her act together in the sixth, breaking her opponent. The former's serve and game got sharper as she bridged the gap to 4-5. In the deciding game, Tamarine's tight double fisted backhand called the tune, helping her wrap up the first set 6-4.

Facing few hitches in the second, Tamarine clinched the contest without dropping a game. Kulikovskaya had played much better in their earlier encounters, the title holder said, attributing her fightback in the first set to improved service.

Of her own game, she said she'd been attacking too much in the past and aimed to keep the ball in play on Tuesday. She wasn't willing to push herself too much to defend her crown, prepared instead to take one match at a time. Content with her form, she said the weather was better here than in Thailand.

Kulikovskaya blamed her serve for her defeat, saying it was `way out of normal.' "It happens,'' she said quite philosophically, but felt her start had been bad. Tamarine with her experience knew when and where to apply the pressure too, getting four first serves in during the crucial 10th game of the opening set.

Introspecting, Kulikovskaya said she should have sliced the ball more and taken the ball earlier than she did. More consistency would have made things different, she added.

The results (first round): Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) bt Evgenia Kulikovskaya (Rus) 6-4, 6-0, Mervana Jugic Salkic (Bos-Her) bt Zi Yan (Chi) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, Maria Elena Camerin (Ita) bt Anastassia Rodionova (Rus) 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, Shahar Peer (Isr) bt Tian Tian Sun (Chi) 6-4, 6-4, Nicole Pratt (Aus) bt Sania Mirza (Ind) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, Angelique Widjaja (Ina) bt Barbara Schwartz (Aut) 7-6 (5), 6-2, Vera Douchevnia (Rus) bt Anna Lena Groenefeld (Ger) 6-3, 6-2, Tatiana Poutchek (Bel) bt Ruxandra Dragomir Ilie (Rom) 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Doubles: Mervana Jugic Salkic/Jelena Kostanic bt Adriana Serra Zanetti/Antonella Serra Zanetti 6-3, 6-1.

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