Indian sports wrap, January 19: Russia’s Tatiana clinches ITF tournament in New Delhi

TENNIS

Tatiana beats Hungary’s Panna to win sixth pro title

Tatiana Prozorova survived six match points to outwit second seed and former world No.76 Panna Udvardy of Hungary 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 in the final of the $40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Sunday.

For the sparse gathering that faithfully stayed glued to the seats for three hours, it was a high quality affair as both players did not hold back right through the gripping contest.

The 21-year-old Russian Tatiana was perhaps a little more hungry and a lot more athletic to eventually convert her fifth match point for her sixth title in the professional circuit.

The 26-year-old Panna did everything right except convert one of those match points, three of them in the 12th game of the second set at 40-0 on her serve, and three more in the tie-break when she led 6-3.

It was indeed a fairy tale revival of fortunes for Tatiana, but there was no dearth of fight or drama in the decider. Tatiana did take a 4-2 lead, but Panna restored parity. A string of errors saw Panna drop serve at love in the ninth game.

In what proved to be the last game, Tatiana was serving at 40-15 and had two more match points. She had to save three break points to force her fifth match point. When Tatiana slipped and fell in a tough rally, Panna’s shot sailed wide. Tatiana converted her fall into a celebration as she lay on her back to a rousing applause from the fans.

A very sporting Panna cheerfully walked across the net to congratulate Tatiana on her hard earned victory. This was easily one of the finest matches witnessed on court No. 1 at the venue.

Panna has won 12 titles and only one of them has been on hard court. But there was no hint about her speciality on clay, as she briskly glided into her shots and stroked with intensity for an entertaining fare.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Oliver Crawford wins BR Adityan ITF M25 title 

Great Britain’s Oliver Crawford and Ukraine’s Eric Vanshelboim treated the 300-plus spectators, who turned up at the SDAT Tennis Stadium on Sunday, to two hours and forty three minutes of exhilarating tennis in the singles final of the B.R. Adityan ITF M25 Men’s International Tennis Championships in Chennai.

Second seed Oliver got off to a blistering start, leading 4-1 before Eric clawed his way back with tenacity and control. Eric used his backhand slice to control the length and height of the ball, slowed down the game and played delectable drop shots close to the net which upset Oliver’s rhythm.

Eighth seed Eric broke back in the seventh game and held serve to level the score at 4-4. The 23-year-old Ukrainian broke Crawford again to lead 6-5. At the end of an engaging rally, Oliver let out an audible obscenity. Lavleen Razada, the chair umpire, was forced to give him a point penalty. Eric went to hold serve to clinch the first set 7-5.

In the second set, the 25-year-old Oliver was at his attacking best – picking up the ball on the rise, moving in and playing penetrative volleys and well-placed smashes while Eric seemed to lose intensity and became error prone. Olivers’s brave tactics enabled him to win the second set 6-3 to level the score.

In the third set, Eric used the backhand slice to great effect and broke Oliver in the eighth game to go ahead 5-3 and serve for the championship. He had two match points at 40-15 and on both occasions, after a fast-paced rally, Oliver unleashed forehand cross court winners deep into the corner to make it deuce. The Briton eventually broke back. The match went into a deciding set tiebreak.

In the tiebreak, Eric led 5-2 when Oliver charged the net to win two points with crosscourt volley winners. A backhand error from Eric made it 5-5. Oliver played a forcing shot to go ahead 6-5 and then forced a backhand error from Eric to close out the match. He earned USD 4,612 (INR 3.8 lakhs appr.) and 25 ATP points while Eric received USD 2,701 (INR 2.22 lakhs appr.) and 16 ATP points.

– Team Sportstar