The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Hisamatsu upset; India's challenge ends

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 22, 2007
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Hisamatsu upset; India's challenge ends

Special Correspondent

MUMBAI: The WTA rankings is only an indicator of a player's form, it is the performances that week which ultimately separates winners from triers.

Japan's Shiho Hisamatsu, the top seed in women's singles and ranked 164 on the WTA list, became the week's biggest casualty at the Mumbai University-ITF Women's US $25,000 tennis tournament, losing to unseeded Natsumi Hamamura in straight sets at the Kalina University Campus courts on Wednesday. The little-known Japanese caught Hisamatsu on an off day to win the second round encounter 6-1, 6-1.

Switzerland's Stefanie Voegele also won her second round match beating hard-hitting Sunitha Rao 6-4, 6-1. The latter is ranked 221 and represents the United States.

The local challenge ended with the exit of Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-4, 6-0 at fifth seed Nina Bratchikova's hands. China's Wang Ting Liu had earlier sent out Sonal Phadke, the Mumbai player striving to make an impression on the ITF circuit.

Second seed Yan Chong Chen (China) and fouth seed Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzbekistan) continued their progress into the third round with convincing wins over qualifier Amber Liu and Tomoko Sugano respectively. The event is being held as part of University of Mumbai's 150th anniversary celebrations.

The results:

Second round: 6-Olga Panova (Rus) bt Martina Caciotti (Ita) 6-2, 6-4; Wan-Ting Liu (Chn) bt Sonal Phadke (Ind) 6-3, 6-3; 5-Nina Bratchikova (Rus) bt Rushmi Chakravarthi (Ind) 6-4, 6-0; 4-Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) bt Amber Liu (US) 6-3, 6-3; Stefanie Voegele (Sui) bt 3-Sunitha Rao (US) 6-4, 6-1; Natsumi Hamamura (Jpn) bt 1-Shiho Hisamatsu (Jpn) 6-1, 6-1; 2-Yan-Chong Chen (Chn) bt Tomoko Sugano (Jpn) 6-4, 6-0; Remi Tezuka (Jpn) bt Jeong-A Cho (Kor) 6-4, 6-2.

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