Dhawan to meet Nefedova in final

NEW DELHI, MAY 7: Shruti Dhawan has a chance to pick up another International Tennis Federation Women's Circuit title tomorrow, if Russia...

NEW DELHI, MAY 7: Shruti Dhawan has a chance to pick up another International Tennis Federation Women’s Circuit title tomorrow, if Russian girl Anna Nefedova allows her to do so.

Dhawan won the $5000 meet in the second leg at Bangalore, beating Nefedova in the quarters. Ranked fourth here, Dhawan beat Archana Venkatraman 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the semi-final at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association courts here today, to enter her second straight final. However, the best player on display today, Nefedova surprised Rushmi Chakravarthi 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Chakravarthi started off strongly in the first set, getting breaks in the fourth and the eighth game, looking good enough to run away with the match. However, as the day became hotter, Nefedova raised the level of her game. Mixing her drops with measured passes, the Russian returned the complements in the second set, breaking the experienced Chakravarthi in the fifth and seventh games, and then holding the eighth to restore parity.

It was 4-4 in the third set before Nefedova broke Chakravarthi with a strong forehand pass. Again, it was a matter of holding her serve, which the Russian did to win the match in one hour 15 minutes.