The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Shikha succumbs to Myskina's skills

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Saturday, Sep 24, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Shikha succumbs to Myskina's skills

S. Dinakar

Kolkata: You expect her to go crosscourt but she whips it down the line with the shortest of backswings. Much of Anastasia Myskina's game is about deception.

Varying the pace and trajectory of her shots, wrong-footing opponents, and nailing points with deft placements, Myskina hardly seems to break a sweat on the court. India's Shikha Uberoi discovered the Russian's skills the hard way in a quarterfinal duel of the Sunfeast Open on Friday.

Shikha dished out some bright tennis at the Netaji indoor stadium, but it was ethereal Myskina who walked out a 6-4, 6-2 winner. The Russian could have as well sashayed down the ramp like she did the other day here. The top seed will meet the unseeded Kaia Kanepi in a semifinal duel on Saturday. The Spaniard scored a 7-5, 6-3 win over Austrian Sybille Bammer in an entertaining encounter.

Playing zestfully

The 151st ranked Shikha played zestfully, her grunting strokes surprising Myskina at the very start. The Indian achieved the first break of the match in the third game.

Stung, Myskina began mixing them up to upset Shikha's rhythm. There were some sublime strokes on view from the Russian. It was hard to tell that she was, in fact, playing with a minor muscle pull sustained during a doubles encounter.

Shikha's strategy was simple. She attempted to hustle Myskina by rushing to the net. The Indian won a couple of brave points, but was passed at crucial junctures by the Moscow girl's rapier-like shots from the back of the court. Myskina broke back in the sixth game, a couple of screaming forehand crosscourt winners drawing attention. As the set wore on, Shikha came under increased pressure to hold.

The Russian made the critical breach in the tenth game, which also meant she had knotted up the first set 6-4. Myskina might have been restricted in her movement, but this was a night when her court-craft came to the fore.

She raced to a 2-0 lead in the second set. The gutsy Shikha, egged on by the crowd, levelled things in the third game. This was a night when the Russian could not be denied. The quality of Myskina's returns and the depth in her groundstrokes were so good that Shikha failed to hold in the fourth and eighth games.

Soon Myskina extended a hand of consolation to Shikha. "I am playing fine. I am trying to get my rhythm back," she said.

The second seeded Elena Likhovtseva breezed through the first set against Sofia Arvidsson. The unseeded Swede put up a stiff resistance in the second set but the Russian found the right answers at crunch situations to clinch the match 6-1, 7-5. She takes on Karolina Sprem in what should be an engrossing semifinal clash on Saturday.

Life has turned a full circle for Sprem. From hope to despair to hope again, she has travelled. The Croatian peered down an unlit pathway last season after a viral infection cut her journey to the top. On return, Sprem found she had slipped way behind the No. 17th spot she once held.

She is picking up the pieces again. Sprem was confident and aggressive in her 6-3, 6-1 verdict over Hungary's Melinda Czink. Some of the Croatian's backhand winners were straight out of the top draw. `Sania-killer' Czink also discovered how quickly life can change.

The results: Quarterfinals: Kaia Kanepi (Spa) bt Sybille Bammer (Aut) 7-5, 6-3; 7-Karolina Sprem (Cro) bt Melinda Czink (Hun) 6-3, 6-1; 1-Anastasia Myskina (Rus) bt Shikha Uberoi (Ind) 6-4, 6-2; 2-Elena Likhovtseva (Rus) bt Sofia Arvidsson (Swe) 6-1, 7-5.

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