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Daniela, Kirilenko sail into next round

By Staff

Kolkata, Sep 19 (UNI) Second seed and World No 10 Daniela Hantuchova did not drop a sweat beating the match out of Polish Maria Domachowska 6-2,6-1, while fourth seed Maria Kirilenko shut out compatriot Ekaterina Ivanova 6-1, 6-4 in the Sony Ericsson WTA Tier II Sunfeast Open here today.

In the other matches, Tzipora Obziler and Yung-jan Chang entered the quarter-finals, while Anne Kepthavong, Flavia Pennetta and Maria Koryttseva entered the second round of the Meet.

Second seed Daniela Hantuchova was chilling out in Bali after her loss in the final there to Lindsay Davenport on Sunday. She reached the city only late last night, cooked up quite a storm at a promotional pasta-cooking event this morning and made short work of her day's business on court at the Netaji Indoor Stadium. She just took 61 minutes to breeze past Maria.

Seeded 11 in the WTA rankings, she used her trademak double-handed backhand to which the Polish girl had no answer. Hantuchova and her endless legs turn as many heads on the tennis court as her game. And today, she showed that she meant business as she broke her opponent as early as in the second game of the first set. And she clinched the set with a break in the eighth game when Domachowska's shot hit the net.

The second set was even more one-sided with the Polish girl able to hold her serve only once in the second game. Hantuchova won the next Five on the trot to win the set at 6-1.

''It was a good match. All my shots worked today. Like Bali, I just tried to give my best and I guess it worked for me again. The match wasn't as easy as it looked, since my opponent played well and I had to come out with good shots,'' said Huantuchova looking gorgeous, draped in burnt-orange georgett outfit.

About the surface here, the Slovak said, ''It's a very good surface, as good surface provided at any European indoor tournaments''.

In the other star match, Russian Kirilenko showed the same flair and style, shutting out Ivanova from the match. Ivanova did not get a measure of her forehands that zoomed past both down the line and across the court.

Maria finished of the first set with two breaks to take it 6-1. In the second set, Ivanova pushed her game a few notches and managed to break in the third game before being broken back in the very next game. Maria effected another break to seal the match at 6-4.

Delhi girl Tara Iyer, who got a wild card for this event, had her taste of the big league today and failed to get past the first hurdle.

Playing in her first WTA meet, the teenager ran into seventh seed Flavia Penetta of Italy. In just 62 minutes, Penetta disposed her off 6-2, 6-1.

''I was nervous. I am not used to such a big crowd," she said after the match. ''I tried to play my usual aggressive game, but today it did not work,'' Tara said.

After a late night win last night, Obziler came out today a little stiff.

But the first set warmed the Israeli up. And after winning the first set, Tzipora got Casey Dellacqua packing at 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

The first set Casey got off in style. But Obziler, who takes inspiration from the iconic Lance Armstrong's book Back to Life, is never one to give up.

She launched a spectacular assault on the Dellacqua backhand and earned double breaks. Enough to see her through 6-3 in set No 2. In the decider, Obziler held her nerve to take it 7-5.

The day's first second round tie saw Yung-Jan Chan make short work of Jarmila Gajdosova from Slovakia. The eighth-seeded girl from Chinese Taipei won 6-1, 6-2 in an hour and 27 minutes.

In two first round encounters, British girl Anne Keothavong defeated Italy's Sara Errani 6-4, 6-4, while Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine put it past Monique Adamczak of Australia 6-3, 6-3.

In the doubles, Alla Kudryavtseva/Vania King beat Ankita Bhambri and Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-1, 6-1, while Indonesia's Sandy Gumulya, pairing up with Whitney Jones of the US beat Great Britain's Anne Keothavong and Czech Republic's Hana Sromova 6-3, 6-3, while Italy's Alberta Brianti and Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine beat India's Ashvarya Shrivastava and Kyra Shroff 6-1, 6-1 in just 45 minutes.

In the last doubles tie, Sunitha Rao and Monique Adamczak got the better of Domachowska and Nha Uberoi 6-1, 6-4.

UNI

Story first published: Thursday, August 24, 2017, 16:00 [IST]
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