Sai breezes past Rushmi to claim title

INDORE, Oct 31: It was all over almost as soon as it started and Sai Jayalakshmi could not have expected such an easy outing. Finally, when ...

INDORE, Oct 31: It was all over almost as soon as it started and Sai Jayalakshmi could not have expected such an easy outing. Finally, when she rushed past second seed Rushmi Chakravarthi (India) 6-0, 6-3 in just 39 minutes to lift the Bridgestone third leg ITF Women’s Circuit Tennis Tourament title here at the Yeshwant Club today, it was a moment to cherish.

Rushmi, who is 901st in the WTA list, made no efforts to make her opponent play and was seemingly playing a lost battle. Her lacklustre performance gifted the match to Sai. Sai, ranked 735th on the WTA computer, broke Rushmi in the first, third and fifth games to wrap up the first set 6-0. Rushmi showed some resistance and signs of a comeback in the second set breaking Sai in the second, after being broken in the first, but she had no answer to Sai’s excellent down-the-line shots and superb volleys.

After breaking Sai in the second game, Rushmi committed three double faults in the third to concede lead to Sai. She managed to hold serve in theseventh game of the second set (5-2) but a determined Sai won the set in the next game.

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Sai was given a cash purse of $650, while Rushmi was richer by $450.

Rovai triumphs

BANGALORE: It was a pea-shooter vs bazooka battle in the Wearhouse Satellite tennis tournament final at the Century Club on Saturday, reports Vedam Jaishankar.

The second seeded Federico Rovai came out with blazing guns and did not give Thailand’s Danai Udomchoke, seeded third, even a ghost of a chance in a 6-2, 6-4 win.

The Swede showed a new facet of his game on the final day as he blasted winners with amazing consistency from the baseline and made the Thai player seem leaden-footed. Rovai’s 75-minute straight set annihilation was followed by the Kirtane cousins, Nitin and Sandeep hammering out a 6-3, 6-4 win over Johan Hede and Zoltan Boroczky. It was the third successive doubles title for the Kirtane cousins.