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Sunitha is the lone Indian survivor

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Sunitha Rao emerged an honourable exception as the Indian girls crashed at the second hurdle of the $50,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old Sunitha served and stroked with renewed confidence as she sailed past the 285th-ranked Teodora Mircic of Serbia 6-1, 6-3 for a berth in the quarterfinals.

Though she dropped serve in the first game of the second set and needed four matchpoints in an extended ninth game of the second set, the U.S.-based Sunitha had the composure to dictate terms to her less-resourceful opponent.

With Ekaterina Dzehalevich of Belarus having beaten the second-seeded Mathilde Johansson of France, Sunitha will have an easier opponent in the quarterfinals.

Having reached the final of a similar tournament at San Francisco in October last year when she lost to Ashley Harkleroad of the U.S., Sunitha has the experience to continue with her good run.

Advances in doubles too

She was good enough in the doubles as well as she powered into the semifinals in partnership with Aurelie Vedy of France.

There was not much success otherwise for the Indian girls, except for the Uberoi sisters, Shikha and Neha, who made the doubles semifinals thanks to a walkover.

Ankita Bhambri, playing with a strapped thigh following a muscle pull, looked capable of beating the sixth-seeded Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa, but let her opponent off the hook after commanding a bright start.

The stocky Ankita’s pronounced inability to move quickly to the ball was exploited by her opponent who came with numerable drop shots and hit sharply into the flanks. Ankita did manage to swing the fluctuating fortunes in her favour in taking the first set in which she was up 3-0 before seeing her opponent serve for the set at 5-4. However, the local girl lacked the steam to put together a meaningful challenge thereafter.

Lack of focus

Isha Lakhani also had a good chance to make progress, but the left-hander lacked focus and solidity of game to get past the 519th ranked Aniko Kapros of Hungary. It was disappointing that the 357th ranked Isha gathered only six games.

In doubles, Rushmi Chakravarthi, in partnership with Chen Yan-Chong of China, put up a quality fare before bowing to the Czech girls Veronika Chvojkova and Andrea Hlavackova in the super tie-break.

The Bhambri sisters were unable to stretch the Chinese Ji Chun-Mei and Sun Sheng-Nan beyond a thrilling first set that slipped away from their grasp in the tie-break.

The results:

Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Carmen Klaschka (Ger) bt Andrea Hlavackova (Cze) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2; Naomi Cavaday (GBR) bt Montinee Tangphong (Tha) 6-3, 6-1; Yanina Wickmayer (Bel) bt Kristina Antoniychuk (Ukr) 7-6(5), 6-1; Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) bt Ankita Bhambri 5-7, 6-3, 6-2; Margit Ruutel (Est) bt Lenka Tvaroskova (Svk) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1; Aniko Kapros (Hun) bt Isha Lakhani 6-2, 6-4; Sunitha Rao bt Teodora Mircic (Srb) 6-1, 6-3; Ekaterina Dzehalevich (Blr) bt Mathilde Johansson (Fra) 6-3, 6-1.

Doubles (quarterfinals): Ji Chun-Mei and Sun Sheng-Nan (Chn) bt Ankita Bhambri and Sanaa Bhambri 7-6(5), 6-3; Neha Uberoi (US) and Shikha Uberoi w.o. Ivana Lisjak (Cro) and Yanina Wickmayer (Bel); Veronika Chvojkova and Andrea Hlavackova (Cze) bt Chen Yan-Chong (Chn) and Rushmi Chakravarthi 7-6(1), 2-6, 10-7; Aurelie Vedy (Fra) and Sunitha Rao bt Teodora Mircic (Srb) and Lenka Tvaroskova (Svk) 6-1, 6-4.

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