The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sai Jayalakshmy in last four

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 03, 2004

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Sai Jayalakshmy in last four

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 2. She had her right forearm in a strap. The `tennis elbow' has been troubling her for weeks now, but that could not hamper Sai Jayalakshmy's progress into the semifinals of the BSNL $10,000 ITF women's tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Thursday.

The Indian Oil officer from Chennai, Sai tamed the second-seeded Aurelie Vedy of France 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Watched by her parents, Sai made use of her strength by moving to the net and putting away the volleys. She did recover from an indifferent start in the first set to go up 3-2, but lost her way.

However, the eighth-seeded Sai served better and hit increasingly well as the match progressed, against the French opponent who did not have a game to hurt her. That apart, Vedy lost her cool quite frequently following her mistakes.

In the semifinals, Sai will take on the sixth-seeded Ankita Bhambri, who recovered from being down 2-5, to win the first set in the tie-break against her younger sister, Sanaa Bhambri. The latter quit thereafter, quoting pain in the calf muscle.

The top-seeded Rushmi Chakravarthi was a class act in the second set against the fifth-seeded Gabriela Velasco-Andreu of Spain, after a tussle in the first.

Rushmi will meet the third-seeded Montinee Tangphong of Thailand, who beat compatriot Wilawan Choptang in a second set tie-break.

The results:

Singles (quarterfinals): Rushmi Chakravarthi bt Gabriela Velasco-Andreu (Esp) 7-6 (7-3), 6-1; Montinee Tangphong (Tha) bt Wilawan Choptang (Tha) 6-2, 7-6 (11-9); Ankita Bhambri bt Sanaa Bhambri 7-6 (7-1) retired; Sai Jayalakshmy bt Aurelie Vedy (Fra) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Doubles (semiifnals): Rushmi Chakravarthi and Sai Jayalakshmy bt Tiffany Welford (Aus) and Liza Pereira 6-4, 6-1; Montinee Tangphong and Thassha Vitayaviroj (Tha) bt Wilawan Choptang (Tha) and Gabriela Velasco Andreu (Esp) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport