Stars deserts Tara; Radhika, Arathi to cash in semi-final

Radhika Tulpule, with another commanding performance, and Rushmi Chakravarthi joined Jayalakshmy in the round of four before Arathi Venkatraman huffed and puffed into the elite group.

The last-named, a Bangalore-based Wipro employee, engineered her semi-final entry with the tournament’s first three-setter against Harsimran Kaur Bedi. Arathi pressed the right keys at the right time to sort out a difficult programme in an hour and 50 minutes, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, a match that had 15 double faults — nine by Bedi and six from the third seed. Chakravarthi, the No 4 seed, advanced with a 6-2, 6-2 score over Sheethal Goutham.

If Jayalakshmy’s scoreline suggests ease in win, the surmise is true onlyin stages. The match laboured through a slow start, the two trading breaks before Jayalakshmy took the decision. She slammed a running backhand volley and then a crackling return of serve to go 3-1 up and stayed ahead.

Then again, for the first five games of the next set, neither held serve. In the second, when she lost her serve, Jayalakshmy did the unthinkable twice — she missed overhead smashes. “I never miss those,” she rued later.

But once Jayalakshmy had gone 4-2 up with her third break of serve, the RPM increased as the wheels of fortune turned. Tara’s chances dimmed and the match got over in a flash.

TULPULE TAKEOVER: The Pune teenager has lost just six games in three matches so far, and that includes a win over the second seed. She scored 6-1, 6-0 over Sumitra Rao today, which included five double faults and four aces; Rao made eight double faults.

Tulpule’s performance scoresheet read ace, ace, double fault, netted forehand, double fault in the last game of the second set. Butthat apart, she played drop shots from the baseline, passed at will and seemed completely in control for most part as against Rao, who appeared as steady as the government at the Centre.

Results

Singles (QF): Rushmi Chakravarthi bt Sheethal Goutham 6-2, 6-2; J Sai Jayalakshmy bt Tara Kanbargimath 6-1, 6-2; Radhika Tulpule bt Sumitra Rao 6-1, 6-0; Arathi Venkatraman bt Harsimran Kaur Bedi 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

Semi-final line-up: Rushmi Chakravarthi vs Sai Jayalakshmy, Arathi Venkatraman vs Radhika Tulpule.

Doubles (SF): Shruti Dhawan/Sheethal Goutham bt Sumitra Rao/Tara Kanbargimath 6-4, 6-1; J Sai Jayalakshmy/Rushmi Chakravarthi w/o Janaki Krishnamoorthy/Radhika Tulpule.