Jennifer Luikham stayed calm amidst the storm created by Vanshita Pathania with her big serves and fluent strokes to script a 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory in a group-A match of the $25,000 UTR Pro women’s tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Monday.
Vanshita, who served three aces in a row in a game, was unnerved at the sight of victory and thus allowed Jennifer to get back into the match. A strained hamstring which did not respond to treatment also added to the woes of Vanshita, as the athletic Jennifer pulled through after dropping serve in the first game of the decider.
In group-D, the young Suhitha Maruri beat the national championship finalist Sai Samhitha 7-5, 6-3. While Sai did not get into her rhythm, Suhitha played well within her limitation to capitalise on her chances.
In the same group, Riya Uboveja battled for long to beat Kavya Khirwar in three sets.
Akanksha Nitture was equally calm to turn the tide in her favour against the fluent game of Sharmada Balu, for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory in group-B.
Hitakamya Singh Narwal led 6-4, 3-4 against Yubrani Banerjee when referee Puneet Gupta had to suspend the match in group-C.
With every player assured of at least four matches in the league phase in four groups, competition could hot up as the aspirants shrug off the worries of defeat to play their best game.
The results:
Group-A: Jennifer Luikham bt Vanshita Pathania 2-6, 7-5, 6-1; Arthi Muniyan bt Bela Tamhankar 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
Group-B: Akanksha Nitture bt Sharmada Balu 4-6, 6-3, 6-0; Avishka Gupta bt Himaanshika Singh 7-5, 7-5.
Group-C: Kashish Bhatia bt Jagmeet Kaur Grewal 6-3, 7-6(6).
Group-D: Suhitha Maruri bt Sai Samhitha 7-5, 6-3; Riya Uboveja bt Kavya Khirwar 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
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