Palha advances to second round in ITF
May 9th, 2011 - 7:25 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, May 9 (IANS) Natasha Palha was the only Indian to advance to the second round on the first day of the $10,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the DLTA complex here Monday.
Palha, who came through the qualifiers, overcame lucky loser Ambika Pande 6-4, 6-4. She now plays eighth-seeded German Jessica Sabeshinskaja for a place in the last eight.
Sabeshinskaja brushed aside Indian wildcard Ankita Bhatia 6-0, 6-3.
Another Indian wildcard Nova Patel gave a tough fight to South Korea’s Da Hye Kim, before going down 6-7(4), 4-6.
Under a blistering sun, Patel and Kim exchanged breaks in a prolonged first set before it entered a tie-break. Kim prevailed in the tie-break to move up a set after nearly an hour-and-half long battle.
In the second set, Patel was broken straightaway in the first game but pulled one back in the fourth. The two again exchanged breaks in the seventh and the eighth game before Kim snatched the decisive break in the ninth. She then served out the set and the match, that lasted a little over two hours.
In another first round match, Briton Manisha Foster had it easy against Nehel Sahni 6-0, 6-3.
Veteran Rushmi Chakravarthy seeded fourth will open against compatriot Prerna Bhambri Tuesday while national champion and wildcard Ratnika Batra will take on Chinese qualifier Jiayuan Xue.
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- Rushmi shocked, Ratnika rallies to beat Ashvarya in ITF tourney - Jun 21, 2011
- Prerna, Ratnika in ITF semis - Jun 23, 2011
- Palha, Shroff in ITF girls' quarters - May 18, 2010
- Prerna continues to come through three-setters - May 12, 2011
- Yuki sails into ITF second round - Jun 06, 2011
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Tags: ankita, batra, blistering, briton, compatriot, eighth game, first game, hye kim, itf, lucky loser, manisha, match, natasha, national champion, New Delhi, south korea, sun, tennis tournament, tie break, veteran