MAY 31: Both singles semi-finals of the ITF women's tennis Masters were scripted in the same fashion and ended in the same way. Underdogs Isha Lakhani and Archana Venkataraman both played enthusiastic first sets - both serving for their respective first sets at 5-4 up. But both went on to lose in straight sets. Top seed Sonal Phadke beat fellow Mumbaikar Isha 7-5 6-3 while second seed Megha Vakharia, also a product of the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association, defeated Archana 7-5 6-1.Though Sonal went 2-0 up with a break in the second game, Isha fought back to take the next three. Sonal broke Isha again in the sixth and Isha broke back in the ninth, to be up 5-4. Serving for the set, Isha was broken and as Sonal said later, ``that made all the difference''. About her erratic play in the first set, Sonal added, ``Instead of attacking when Isha broke back, I went into defensive mode, somehow, I wasn't that confident.'' Isha, dealing with a painful corn on her right foot, put her loss down to four words: ``I tried too hard.''Twenty-two-year old Archana, seven years older than Megha, has lost thrice to the teenager in the past three weeks. On Wednesday, she messed up all the chances she had. Firmly ensconced in the driver's seat in the first set, she lead Megha four games to love. These games were over in 11 minutes.Inexplicably, Archana allowed the Manoj Vaidya-trained Megha to not only get back into the match, but also completely dominate proceedings from thereon. She took the next three games and never quite looked back. Of course, full credit must go to southpaw Megha, who came onto court holding an ice bag to her strained left elbow and came back from a difficult situation with considerable aplomb, despite the pain.Semi-final results (seeding in prefix): 1-Sonal Phadke bt Isha Lakhani 7-5 6-3, 1-Megha Vakharia bt 3-Archana Venkataraman 7-5 6-1.
