Uzma enters semis

NEW DELHI, February 4: Top seed Uzma Khan carried Indian hopes into the semi-finals of the ITF Junior Ranking tennis tournament for Under-18...

NEW DELHI, February 4: Top seed Uzma Khan carried Indian hopes into the semi-finals of the ITF Junior Ranking tennis tournament for Under-18 at DTA courts here today with a comfortable 6-4, 6-4 win over compatriot Sheetal Gautam.

In tomorrow8217;s semis, the courts will be crowded by Austrians, with at least three of them in the singles fray. Meanwhile, other Indians in the running 8212; Radhika Tulpule and Trishna Williams 8212; crashed out of the tournament in the quarter-finals today.

While Radhika went down tamely to Yvonne Meusburger 6-3, 6-2, Trishna Williams offered some resistance before going down 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to Marion Sohm. Trishna started with a bang and broke her rival in the second game itself to go 2-0 up. But that was the only high point for her in the first set as Trishna soon found her touch deserting her.

Sixth seed Jacob Paulsen of Denmark remained the sole foreigner in contention. He upstaged top seed Indian Sanzaruz Zaman 7-6 3, 4-6, 6-3 after a long battle.

With his thighs wrapped inbandages, Sanzaruz played a bad game. He hesitated in going for shots and his returns were miscalculated. Sanzaruz8217;s serves also deserted him and he often double faulted to give Jacob the advantage. Still, he managed to drag the first set to the tie-breaker which the 17-year-old Dane won 6-3.

Sanzaruz8217;s troubles continued in the second set as he failed hold the second game. Luckily, for Sanzaruz, Jacob started losing concentration and the set saw both the players double faulting, committing unforced errors and shooting wide.

Soon, Sanzaruz8217;s injury started troubling him and he sat on the court in pain. Medical attention and a little rest helped the Indian a bit. Down 2-4 in the sixth, Sanzaruz lifted his game to win the next four in a row to pull abreast, breaking Jacob twice 8212; in the seventh and ninth.

Story continues below this ad

Equal at a set-all, Jacob appeared more tense as the match progressed. Soon both players were seen throwing tantrums and in the absence of an umpire, they indulged in arguments on line-calls. Sanzaruzbroke Jacob in the third game to go 2-1 up. But the Dane broke back in the sixth to pull level at 3-3 and then won the next three games in a row before serving out the set and match at 6-3.

RESULTS: Boys singles QFs: Jacob Paulsen Den bt Sanzaruz Zaman 7-6 3, 4-6, 6-3; Kedar Tembe bt Punna Vishal 6-0, 6-0; Ravi Kiran Bhatt bt Akshay Vishal Rao 6-2, 7-5; Kamala Kannan bt Mik Ledvonova Den

Doubles: QFs: Rohan Bopanna/Ravi Kiran Bhatt bt Lalit Mohan Singh/Rahul Giri 6-2, 6-4; Sunil Kuamr/A Vishal Rao bt Parantap Chaturvedi/Chandrasekhar Mohanty 6-4, 7-63; Denis Sirotin/Eduard Koifman Kyr bt Samita Ranavira Sri/PS Bhattacharya 6-2, 6-4; Dipesh Rao/Kedar Shah bt Vijay Kannan/Saif Ali 6-2, 6-3

Girls singles QFs: Uzma Khan bt Sheetal Gautam 6-4, 6-4; Marion Sohm Aut bt Trishna Williams 2-6, 6-3, 7-5; Tina Tagwercher bt Beatrice Juch 2-6, 7-6, 6-1; Yvonne Meusurger bt Radhika Tulpule 6-3, 6-2