Mankad, Natekar in title clash

IN LINE FOR A DOUBLE...Anaki Krishnamoorthy braces for backhand return during their semi-final against Hrushida Kamthe at the MSLTA courts ...

IN LINE FOR A DOUBLE…Anaki Krishnamoorthy braces for backhand return during their semi-final against Hrushida Kamthe at the MSLTA courts on Friday.

MUMBAI, May 2: Top seeds Gaurav Natekar and Rushmi Chakravarthy, after being stretched to three sets in the quarters, had much easier outings in the semi-finals of Maharashtra State Hard Court Tennis Championship today.

At the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) Courts, Natekar stopped the dream run of wild card Y Sandeep, while Rushmi made it to the final defeating unseeded Reetu Sethi. Both winning in straight sets.

The list of coincidence grew, when they ended up facing third seeds in tomorrow’s finals. Natekar faces Harsh Mankad, who is playing brilliant tennis at the moment. Rushmi will clash with Janaki Krishnamoorthy.

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Harsh dropped just one game as he walloped seventh seed DR Jayadeva of Karnataka 6-0, 6-1. Janaki, a bit annoyed by the heat today, prevailed over the unseeded Hrushida Kamthe in the toughest match of the day, winning 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Kamthe began rather tamely, losing her opening service game to trail 0-2 in the first set. But she came back strongly, won the next three games and after Janaki held her serve in the sixth game, Kamthe wrapped up the first set by winning three games in a row again.

Janaki, who is facing some trouble due to the heat on the court, was also missing her backhands frequently during the set. “She was playing loopy backhands and somehow I lost the rhythm in my own backhands, which happens to be my strong point. By the time I got used to the heat, I had already lost the first set. I thought `If I have to lose, I’d better play well and lose’. And then things started falling in place,” said Janaki after the match.

In the second, Kamthe made quite a few unforced error and was broken twice in the 2-6 loss. “My best chance was to win the match in straight sets. Once the match proceeded to third set, I started to tire,” said Kamthe, who was playing her first tournament after a 18-month injury lay-off.

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Agreed Janaki. “The third set was rather easy. I had more legs than her and the moment I won the second set, I knew that the match was mine.”

The men’s final should be a cracker of a match. Mankad has lost just three games in his last two matches, while Natekar played a scratchy quarter-final against Jagdish Tanwar. The last time they had met, Mankad had lost 1-6, 2-6 in the Sriram Open in Delhi. If he continues playing the way he has in the last few days, Natekar will have to pour in his everything to justify his top billing.

Later in the day, Harsh’s hopes of keeping in line for a double evaporated when he and his partner Chandraveer Singh were beaten by Shailesh Dhoble and Jagdish Tanwar 3-6, 6-7 in the men’s doubles finals.

Rushmi and Janaki teamed to claim the women’s doubles title beating Aparna Srinvasan and Nehal Chopra 6-4, 6-4 in the finals.

RESULTS

(seedings in prefix)

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Men’s singles (semi-finals): 1-Gaurav Natekar bt Y Sandeep 6-3 6-1; 3-Harsh Mankad bt 7-DR Jayadeva 6-0 6-1

Men’s doubles (final): Shailesh Dhoble & Jagdish Tanwar bt Harsh Mankad & Chandraveer Singh 6-3, 7-6

Women’s singles (semi-finals): 1-Rushmi Chakravarthy bt Reetu Sethi 6-3 6-2; 3-Janaki Krishnamoorthy bt Hrushida Kamthe 3-6, 6-2, 6-2

Women’s doubles (final): Rushmi Chakravarthy & Janaki Krishnamoorthy bt Aparna Srinivasan & Nehal Chopra 6-4, 6-4