Maja, Jayalakshmy face off in semi-final

New Delhi, April 21: Some people never fail to surprise you. Sai Jayalakshmy hasn't had the greatest of records in the recent past when it...

New Delhi, April 21: Some people never fail to surprise you. Sai Jayalakshmy hasn8217;t had the greatest of records in the recent past when it comes to fighting back from what looks to be a lost cause. This time, things couldn8217;t have looked bleaker after she was blanked 6-0 in the first set of the semifinals of the 10,000 ITF women8217;s circuit event here.

She fought back, but squandered a 4-0 lead in the second set to allow her opponent, 1034-ranked Slovenian Maja Mlaker, some 600 places below her, to level at 5-5. Things went to the tie-breaker and most thought the matter was over. But then Sai, calling on whatever reserves of strength she possessed, pulled herself together to eke out a 0-6, 7-6 4, 6-4 victory over the younger girl and set up an all-Indian clash against top seed and doubles partner Nirupama Vaidyanathan.

Nirupama won, what was in the end, a surprisingly easy victory in the other semi-final, beating another Slovenian teen, Urska Vesenjak in 52 minutes, 6-3, 6-1. Both Nirupama and Sai then gave themselves a shot at a double, by teaming up to beat Rushmi Chakravarthi and Radhika Tulpule 6-4, 6-2 in the doubles final. The winners received 650.

Coming back to the Sai-Maja encounter, in the first set, Sai was totally at sea and looked thoroughly overawed by the power her 17-year-old opponent generated. Maja, though, does not play either like someone around the 1000 mark, nor like a person who has just one year on the tour. It defintely looks like we will hear hear more about this teen from Maribor in the future.

Though her forehand is a bit suspect under pressure, she has a killer backhand and just goes through with any shot on her backhand with something close to absolute disdain. As if she knows fully well that her opponent will never get to it. Sai rarely did. It was only later, that Sai gathered herself and focussed on a strategy. She started playing to Maja8217;s forehand, something that seemed to frustrate the Slovenian into making mistakes. In addition, after an easy wrapping up of the first set, Maja probably took things a little easy and lost momentum.

Speaking after the ordeal, and it definitly was that even though everything was right at the end from the Indian viewpoint, Sai said that she was very pleased that she won despite quot;having a really bad day.quot;

Sai fighting back is wonderful to see as it is a reflection of her new-found attitude and confidence. She has always been a hard worker and a thinking player, who has buckled to pressure on several occasions. This time, she came through, singed, but safe.

Story continues below this ad

Nirupama today put on a magnificent demonstration of the class act she is in her thoroughly professional demolition of Urska. She was absolutely focussed and said after the match that though she had expected a tougher battle, quot;the match was won all in the mind.quot; Urska sent down a couple of booming serves, but was more or less out of it after she lost the first set. She later said she was tired after a long match yesterday, and was hampered by a hamstring strain in her right thigh.

It has been five years since Nirupama and Sai last played, in the final of the Gadgil Masters in Pune in 1995. Nirupama walked away with that bout, though Sai put up a fight before going down 0-6, 6-4, 5-7. In the time that has elapsed, Nirupama has gained tremendous experience and plays at a level completely different to Sai8217;s. But Sai is eager to do battle and this all-Indian final may be interesting to watch.