Tuesday, Apr 15, 2003
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Tennis
By Kamesh Srinivasan
Israel's Yael Glitzenshtein executes a forehand shot against India's Sonal Phadke in the ITF women's tennis tournament at Muzaffarnagar on Monday. — Photo: Sandeep Saxena
It was pure athleticism and the ability to adapt to the situation that helped the 773rd ranked Yael Glitzenshtein of Israel record a 6-1, 7-6 (7-1) against the 701st ranked Sonal. Sonal did make a fight of it in the end, when she saved a matchpoint in the ninth game of the second set to eventually take the contest into the tie-break. However, she looked to be fighting a losing battle all through as her serves lacked the sting and her strokes, the deception that is so important on the unpredictable surface. In contrast, Yael not only served and stroked with confidence, but also brought off quite a few drop shots to expose the inadequacies of Sonal. The first set was over in 28 minutes as Sonal dropped serve in the fourth and sixth games, after missing breakpoints in the first and fifth games. She doublefaulted on breakpoint in the fifth game of the second set, like the way she had done in the fourth game of the first. Cheered by the sparse gathering, which included a clutch of police personnel, Sonal seemed to have recovered her will to fight, as she broke Yael in the tenth game, after saving that matchpoint in the ninth and two breakpoints earlier in the seventh games. However, she dropped serve promptly and made a final hurrah with a break in the 12th game. Yael reeled off six points in a row with her assured play, and conceded a token point to Sonal with a doublefault, in the tie-break. Sonal was perhaps happy to have stretched the second set to nearly an hour, but for someone who had beaten quality players, it was indeed a tame affair. While Yael had to sweat it out to ensure one WTA point for entering the second round, quite a few got that point gift-wrapped by less resourceful opponents. Ludmila Rozsivalova of the Czech Republic had to win only one game, as her opponent Marina Aniutin of Israel retired, quoting fever and an upset stomach as reasons. Jung-Yoon Shin of Korea, Diana Costa of Portugal, Katie Miles of Britain and Franziska Etzel of Germany had to play qualifiers and dropped one game in all between them. Katie blanks Sheena In fact, it was a joke that someone like Sheena Jain who played fellow qualifier Katie Miles, could win $100 for the exercise, as she could neither serve nor stroke even like a novice. Almost every serve of Katie was an ace and every return a winner. Even in her wildest dreams Katie would not have visualised that she could win one WTA point on a song, as she did not drop a game in the only qualifying round. Iciri Rai was slightly better than the rest, as she won four games against the third-seeded Wilawan Choptang of Thailand. Iciri could not get her service rhythm and that eroded her confidence. She stroked well to get quite a few chances to break her opponent, but could not convert them. Meanwhile, it was a tough draw for the top-seeded Rushmi Chakravarti and Sai Jayalakshmy in doubles, as they were drawn to meet the champions of the second tournament in Mumbai, Ludmila Rozsivalova of the Czech Republic and Julia Vorobieva of Russia. The Indian pair had lost in the second round to the same opponents last week, but may turn the tables this time on Tuesday afternoon. Sedate start The tournament itself got off to a sedate start, as the scoreboards were not updated, and the sparse gathering, a part of which had to watch over the boundary wall amidst the noisy environment, had no clue about what was happening on the courts. The practice court and court No. 2 sported big patches inside the baseline that provided a sore look. As an emergency, the fire fighting unit was pressed into service to water the courts after the singles matches in the afternoon ! Thanks to the overwhelming enthusiasm of the organisers, the players have opted to shelve their complaints and get on with the game. The fare should be a lot better on the morrow, when the top players try to assert their supremacy against quality opposition. The results: Singles (first round): Ludmila Rozsivalova (Cze) bt Marina Aniutin (Isr) 1-0 (retired); Jung-Yoon Shin (Kor) bt Anjari Nagalia 6-0, 6-0; Diana Costa (Por) bt Summer Bhullar 6-0, 6-0; Wilawan Choptang (Tha) bt Iciri Rai 6-2, 6-2; Yael Glitzenshtein (Isr) bt Sonal Phadke 6-1, 7-6 (7-1); Katie Miles bt Sheena Jain 6-0, 6-0; Franziska Etzel (Ger) bt Pallavi Sharma 6-0, 6-1; Carly HOmewood (GBR) bt Heli Bargil (Ir) 6-2, 6-2. Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Georgette Wright (US) and Archana Venkataraman bt Wilawan Choptang (Tha) and Iciri Rai 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 6-1; Liza Pereira and Diana Costa (Por) w.o. Marina Aniutin and Heli Bargil (Isr); Harsimran Kaur and Anjali Tandon bt Anjari Nagalia and Amanat Thind 3-6, 6-1, 6-2; Carly Homewood and Natalie Neri (GBR) bt Summer Bhullar and Pallavi Sharma 6-0, 6-1.
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