Sonal Phadke triumphs

Our Correspondent

Top seed Sonal Phadke was given a scare for the second successive day before coming out trumps in the first leg of the ITF women's circuit tennis tournament in Bombay.

On Friday, it was the dimunitive Megha Vakharia who took her to the distance in the semi-finals. On Saturday, she met with unexpected resistance from Madras girl Samrita Sekar before winning the final 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 45 minutes.

For 17-year-old Sekar, unseeded in the tournament, it's been a memorable week. In the quarter-finals, the Tamil Nadu Academy for Tennis Excellence trainee had scalped eighth seed Nandita Chandrasekhar, and in the semis had the measure of second seed Archana Vekatraman, winning in straight sets.

In the final too she looked like continuing on her giant-killing run as she took the first set after effecting a solitary break against Phadke in the ninth game. However, her inexperience in big matchplay -- it was her maiden ITF women's final -- and inability to maintain a level of consistency did her in.

Undeterred by the first set reverse, Phadke stepped up the pace in the second set and used both the flanks effectively to have Sekar on the run. The sudden change of pace was too much for Sekar to cope with. She made a mess of the big points and was unable to hold serve in the fourth and sixth games, and lost the set easily at 2-6.

A better fight was expected from Sekar in the decider, but she appeared tired after all the running she had done in the first two sets. After games went with serve, Sonal broke in the eighth game. That break sufficed for her to take the set and match at 6-3.

The victory earned the Bombay lass a purse of $650 and 16 circuit points while Samrita had to rest content with $450 and 12 circuit points.

Second seeds Sheetal Goutham and Lisa Pereira won the doubles title, beating top seeds Sonal Phadke and Karishma Patel 6-4, 6-3 in the final on Friday.