Sonal Phadke displayed the splendid form that has seen her make rapid strides in recent months to score a straight sets victory over Ankita Bhambri in the second round of the $10,000 ITF Futures women's tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex, in Delhi, on Wednesday.
There were some hiccups in the second set for the seventh seed, but Phadke did well to nip Bhambri's challenge at the right time for a 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) victory and advance to the quarter-finals.
The 2003 season has seen the 20-year-old Phadke bring her fledgling career back on track after the promise that she showed in her early days seemed to fizzle out. Following a lay-off last year, the Mumbai girl bounced back strongly to win the third leg of the Satellite circuit in Delhi in June and capped her good show with a $15,000 title in Nigeria last month.
If today's match marked the rejuvenation of Phadke, it also pointed to the rut Bhambri seems to have got into. The 16-year old Delhi lass is restricted in her tournament play, and an ankle injury kept her out of courts since she won the Satellite Masters. The lack of match fitness was obvious as the talented teenager often struggled with her retrievals.
Phadke, on the other hand, was bouncing with confidence and took the first set with ease. It was only in the second set that Bhambri began to put up some sort of fight. Bhambri appeared to start the second set with a clear mind after a toilet-break. She charged to the net with inspiration and broke Phadke in the first game straight away. But that, as it turned out, was a false dawn.
Results (Indian unless specified)
Singles (second round): Suchanan Viratprasert (Tha) bt Sandhya Nagraj 6-0, 6-2; Isha Lakhani bt Lata Assudani 6-1, 6-1; Samrita Sekar bt Sandri Gangotri 7-5, 2-6, 6-2; Sai Jayalakshmi bt Ragini Vimal 6-2, 6-1; Archana Venkataraman by Iciri Rai 6-3, 6-1; Megha Vakharia bt Natalia Neri (GBR) 6-3, 6-2; Sonal Phadke bt Ankita Bhambri 6-3, 7-6 (7/3); Chin-Bee Khoo bt Po-Kuen Lam (HKG) 6-3, 6-1.
Doubles (quarter-finals): Rushmi Chakravarthi & Sai Jayalakshmi bt Iciri Rai & Preeti Rao 6-1, 6-4; Sheethal Goutham & Shruti Dhawan bt Archana Vankataraman & Arthi Venkataraman 6-0, 6-2; Geeta Manohar & Suchanan Viratprasert (Tha) bt Lata Assudani & Rati Kumar 6-2, 6-3; Chin-Bee Khoo (Mal) & Megha Vakharia bt Krushmi Chheda & Punam Reddy 6-2, 6-0.
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