Megha magic at Pune

Pune, May 27: A month the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association MSLTA should be proud of. And why not. Two of the body's disciples h...

Pune, May 27: A month the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association MSLTA should be proud of. And why not. Two of the body8217;s disciples have emerged winners at the all the three legs of the ITF8217;S Women8217;s Satellite Tennis Championships. Sonal Phadke clinched the inaugural leg at Indore while citymate and partner Megha Vakharia leaving the opposition behind by walking away with the next two at Mumbai and then on Saturday at Pune.

The extent of the injury could be gauged from the fact that majority of Megha8217;s first serves approximately 80 per cent found the net. 8220;When I came here from Mumbai, it was just a sprain, but it aggravated and affected my serves. There was no strength in the serve.8221; This was true because the lethal power with which the Mumbai youngster deliver her serves was not to be seen.

On the whole, the encounter was lacklustre with both players not playing to their full potential. It was a battle of nerves for both, as they were most of the time busy thinking how to save their serves. Megha started the match with a double fault. She lost her serve, but shot back in the next breaking Archana. The third, too, was a break with Archana taking the next and leading 3-1. In the fifth, Megha had her hands full avoiding one more break after a double fault by her and then two winners by Archana found her fighting to save her serve. Following two games saw both players exchange break of serves.

At 4-4, Megha came up with a double-fisted backhand crosscourt to go into the lead for the first time in the match. The tenth was humdinger, first Archana down 15-40 saved two set points and made deuce. She was again on the brink, saving three more, but on the fourth deuce advantage, Megha hit a backhand crosscourt winner to jump one set ahead.

Archana, who is the most consistent player on the circuit, could not come to grips with her game. Her serves were lacked power, her court movement was slow which was the reason she couldn8217;t find herself at the right place at the appropriate moment.

At a game apiece in the next set, the ensuing three games were again breaks. Leading 4-3, Archana conceded the lead being broken. That gave Megha the upperhand, and she never looked back. At 6-5 in her favour, Megha shot a backhand winner and then a unforced error and a double fault by Archana gave Megha three match points. The 15-year-old Megha finally brought curtains down on the Championships by lashing a backhand crosscourt winner, and taking the match 7-5.

Megha was not that happy at her performance and reasoned her back to back matches singles semis and then doubles final for the errors. She also said that beating Archana last week had her confidence level up and she knew which shots to play. 8220;Archana was inconsistent and that played a significant part in my win.8221; Archana, however, did not think that her previous loss to Megha had her under pressure. 8220;Last week I played the doubles first and was not in mood to give a fight.8221; However, she did not steal Megha8217;s performance 8220;She really played well. It was not my day.8221;

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The players now proceed to New Delhi to play the Masters, where a good performance will put them on the international pedestal.

Results final: Megha Vakharia bt Archana Venkataraman 6-4 7-5.