The Hindu : Sport : No stopping Myskina

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 26, 2005

Sport

Sport

No stopping Myskina

S. Dinakar

— Photo: AP

RUSSIAN DELIGHT: Anastasia Myskina (right) had a dream run defeating Karolina Sprem in the singles final and then pocketing the doubles title too.

KOLKATA: Anastasia Myskina's reaction after nailing the final point with a screaming backhand winner reflected her state of mind. There was no clenching of fists from the Russian, no cries of joy. Nothing that would indicate that she had triumphed in a WTA event after 11 months.

She was calm and serene, graceful and sublime. And Myskina was a popular champion at the Netaji indoor courts on Sunday. The only liberty she allowed herself was to knock balls into the gleeful crowd, which chanted `Myskina, Myskina.'

The top seed's 6-2, 6-2 demolition of the seventh seeded Croatian Karolina Sprem in the summit clash of the Sunfeast Open was an exhibition of quality tennis and clever court-craft.

Sprem likes to whack her shots on either flank. Myskina took the pace off the ball, never quite allowing the Croatian to settle into a hitting rhythm.

The subtle changes Myskina brought about in the speed and trajectory of her strokes kept Sprem guessing.

Crucially, Myskina pinned Sprem to the baseline. In the earlier duels, Sprem would find the right length for her forceful forehands from a yard behind the baseline. Now, with Myskina not allowing her the freedom to travel back, she was hitting the same strokes long.

Short work

Myskina added the doubles crown to her collection too. She teamed up with countrywomen Elena Likhovtseva to make short of Neha and Shikha Uberoi 6-1, 6-0. Despite being outclassed in the final, it was a creditable performance in the tournament by the Uberoi sisters.

Back to Myskina and her quest in the singles. She is also someone given to moods, brilliant one moment, error-ridden the next. The Russian is hard to beat though when her body and mind are in harmony like on Sunday. Myskina raced to a 4-0 lead in the first set. Sprem staged a mini-fightback breaking the Russian in the fifth game, but her serve was coming under increasing pressure from Myskina's rapier-like racquet.

It was no surprise when she was broken in the eighth game. Myskina had pocketed the first set 6-2. Sprem could not hold her serve again in the contest.

To her credit, the fighting Sprem broke her celebrated opponent twice in the second set. But Myskina's dominance of the seventh-seed's serve ensured that this final would end only one way. The victory was worth $27,000 for Myskina. The Russian would also greatly value the 120 WTA points which would take her closer to the top 10 bracket from her present ranking of 12.

Later in the evening, she split $ 8000 with Likhovtseva for topping in doubles.

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