The Hindu : Sport : Tara Iyer falls in the first round

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Wednesday, Feb 14, 2007
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Tara Iyer falls in the first round

Nandita Sridhar

PHOTO: K. BHAGYA PRAKASH

PAST THE FIRST HURDLE: Dominika Cibulkova, who took out Tara Iyer.

Bangalore: Clad in blue and black, Shikha Uberoi moved around Centre Court like a trail of paint on canvas, crayoning the court with her footwear. There were no huff-and-puff heaves or jerky retrieves. Shehas a decent all-round game,good movement, and a near fatless stature, yet,she stills finds herself languishing in the 200s.A classic case of a wobbly pair of knees.

The problem with Shikha, is that she looks ready to explode, when pushed to a corner. It gets no better whenthings aregoing well. She gave up a 3-0 lead in the first set, and went on to lose to Yaroslava Shvedova of Russia 3-6, 7-6(3), 3-6, in the first round of the Sony Ericsson International WTA tennis tournament, at the KSLTA Stadium, on Tuesday.

Shikha played some good shots on both flanks, but found the errors lining up as well. Letting slip the first set, she was on top for most part of the second set, running away with the tie-break. But, when the situation demands a bunch of steely nerves, the pressure noosetightens.The third set sawher shots going awry, though most of them were agonisingly inches away.

"I dictated in patches, but missed a lot of points. I gave her a lot of points," said a disappointed Shikha.

Tara Iyer has a neat forehand that's pleasing in its fluidity and balance. The problem on Tuesday, was that the ball plonked itself on the wrong side of the baseline, paying little heed to its intended destination, and doing sufficient damage to her part of the scoreline. She lost 6-0, 6-2 to Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in the first round, going for a little too much when the situation demanded otherwise.

Fifth seed Yuliana Fedak threw away the match after winning the first set, losing to Japan's Yurika Sema 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Fourth seed Jelena Kostanic Tosic survived a Sophie Ferguson scare, rallying from a set down to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.

The first set was a disaster, after which Tara found her bearings, albeit for a brief while, in the second set. She broke Cibulkova in the first game, only to be broken back promptly thereafter. It was all shaky after that. Her display of skill in patches suggested potential, but it would take a lot of chiselling for her to catch up. Her backhand, for starters, needs some work, but time, competition and effort should iron out the flaws, provided she's guided properly.

"I am disappointed. I was nervous in the beginning of the match. I felt I wasn't aggressive enough initially, but went for too much after that," said Tara.

"I usually play close to the line, but was playing it safe initially. I went for too much after that, and should have kept the ball in play a little more," she said.

The 18-year-old spent 2006 playing college tennis, which explains why she's ranked in the 500s. "I was injured for around five months last year, but this year, I will be competing in the professional tour. I will take part in a few Futures after this," said the junior national champion.

The results: First round: Singles: Yaroslava Shvedova (Rus) bt Shikha Uberoi 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-3; Tzipora Obziler (Isr) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (Rus) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Jelena Kostanic Tosic (Cro) bt Sophie Ferguson (Aus) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1; Vasilisa Bardina (Rus) bt Kristina Barrois (Ger) 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3); Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) bt Chin-Wei Chan (Tpe) 6-3, 6-3; Yulia Beygelzimer (Ukr) bt Nudnida Luangnam (Tha) 6-2, 6-1; Su-Wei Hsieh (Tpe) bt Sandra Kloesel (Ger) 6-2, 6-4; Tatiana Poutchek (Blr) bt Meng Yuan (Chn) 6-2, 6-0; Olga Savchuk (Ukr) bt Mariya Koryttseva (Ukr) 6-4, 6-4; Yurika Sema (Jpn) bt Yuliana Fedak (Ukr) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4; Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) bt Jarmila Gajdosova (Svk) 6-3, 6-3; Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) bt Tara Iyer (Ind) 6-0, 6-2.

Doubles: Alberta Brianti (Ita) & Koryttseva (Ukr) bt Sunitha Rao (USA) & Olga Savchuk 7-5, 6-4; Yung-Jan Chan (Tpe) & Chia-Jung Chuang (Tpe) bt Melinda Czink (Hun) & Andreja Klepac (Slo) 6-3, 6-3; Sania Mirza (Ind) & Mara Santangelo (Ita) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) & Tatiana Poutchek (Blr) 6-2, 7-6(4).

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