The Hindu : Pratt advances with ease

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 20, 2004

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Pratt advances with ease

By A. Joseph Antony

Maria Kirilenko makes a return in her match against Angelique Widjaja. - Photo: H. Satish

HYDERABAD, FEB. 19. Like a purring Pratt and Whitney engine, the might of which has driven generations of aircraft, Nicole Pratt seemed to get better with each long haul. On Thursday, she encountered a tough opponent in Jelena Kostanic, but quelled her challenge 6-4, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the Women's Tennis Association-ING Vysya Hyderabad Open on the centre court of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh complex.

Playing a more compact game this evening, shorn of frills, Pratt was the lean and mean machine, exerting herself enough to maintain a tight leash on the contest. Throw in the aggro that is the trademark of her tribe from Down Under and the portrait was complete.

Kostanic's error-prone game in the early stages was just the opening Pratt needed, as she broke the former in the third game of the first set. The Croat's court positioning was fine, but her strokes lacked the accuracy that was amply evident in Pratt's play.

Kostanic's net sorties were relatively more frequent, but she couldn't quite enforce the advantage from there, as when she plopped a drop into the net from forecourt. Even holding on to her serve meant hard work for Kostanic.

Pratt meanwhile tore down the left-hander's resistance through some amazing cross-court forehanders. With slices that had the right dash of underspin to them, Pratt slowed the pace down to Kostanic's discomfiture. Of equal impact were the Australian's defensive lobs.

Pleased with her peaking form, Pratt however, felt she had played better against Italian Adriana Zanetti on Wednesday, while rating Kostanic a tougher opponent. Content to win in two sets, she had come prepared to do well here.

The fourth seed said the changes she had made to her serve were working but sought to rush to the net more often.

Earlier, Tamarine Tanasugarn, defeated in three sets by Jie Zheng at the Japan Open last year, set the record straight with a 6-3, 6-1 victory today. Wresting the Chinese girl's serve in the very first game, the reigning champ retained her own in the next with a high overhead backhand volley that was a telling display in ball control.

Zheng broke Tamarine in the fourth, but the latter wrested the initiative in the fifth. The Thai baseliner's games got extended and but for Zheng's late fightback, Tamarine didn't lose grip over the match.

In the second, Tamarine stepped in to receive Zheng's service, indication of the third seed's increasing dominance. The former would not dismiss the win as easy, saying if Zheng managed to get the ball in, most often they were winners. Generous with her opponent, Tanasugarn said it was not Zheng's day today.

Satisfied with her ground strokes, the title-holder said she wasn't missing the ball a lot this year. When asked whether her game had slowed down since last year, she was getting older, she joked. Maria Kirilenko, whom Tamarina meets in the semi-finals, is not only young but tough too, she said.

With half a dozen aces helping her along the way, Kirilenko made short work of Angelique Widjaja 6-1, 6-2 on court three. The slim Russian's returns, including those from her backhand, packed adequate pep and thwarted the Indonesian's efforts to slow down the game.

The warm afternoon had her sapped when she led 2-1 in the second set. She however got herself together and the strong urge to win spurred her forward.

Stretched in the first set, Marion Bartoli wouldn't let that affect the outcome as the second seeded Frenchwoman defeated Mervana Jugic Salkic of Bosnia Herzgovina, 7-5, 6-2.

Advancing to the doubles semifinals were Hyderabad's own Sania Mirza and Liezel Huber, who shocked the second seeded Indonesian duo of Wynne Prakyusha and Angelique Widjaja 6-0, 6-4. They had beaten Shelley Stephens of New Zealand and Jin Hee Kim of Korea yesterday 6-2, 7-6 (10).

DD telecast: Doordarshan will cover the WTA tennis matches live on Friday and Saturday it was announced in a press release issued by Globosport, organisers of the tournament. The singles and doubles semifinals are scheduled to be held on Friday (Feb. 20) and the singles and doubles finals are slated to be held on Saturday (Feb. 21). The matches will be telecast live from 3 p.m onwards.

The results (quarterfinals): Singles: Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) bt Jie Zheng (Chi) 6-3, 6-1; Nicole Pratt (Aus) bt Jelena Kostanic (Cro) 6-4, 7-5; Maria Kirilenko (Rus) bt Angelique Widjaja (Ina) 6-1, 6-2; Marion Bartoli (Fra) bt Mervana Jugic Salkic (Bos-Her) 7-5, 6-2.

Doubles: Sania Mirza (Ind)/Liezel Huber (SA) bt Wynne Prakyusha/Angelique Widjaja (Ina) 6-0, 6-4; Yulia Beygelzimer (Ukr)/Tatiana Poutchek (Bel) bt Maria Kirilenko/Evgenia Kulikovskaya (Rus) 6-4, 6-4.

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