Pune: Jaqueline Adina Cristian of Romania took one hour and 48 minutes to oust home favourite Karman Kaur Thandi 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 to claim the $25000 Pune Open ITF Women’s Championship at the MSLTA School of Tennis in Balewadi Sports Complex, on Saturday.
Karman who has impressed all with her furious aces and forehand returns, started off well but untimely unforced errors allowed Cristian to walk home with the trophy.
“On a few occasions, I lost my patience and could not hit the ball in right areas. She was mixing her shots well whereas I kept playing an attacking game, which cost me the match,” said Karman.
Both the players started the match holding their serves in the first two games of the first set. Karman fired two aces in the second game to make her intentions clear.
From there onwards, Karman opted for an attacking approach and it helped her to keep Jaqueline on toes but at the same time, the approach also backfired, as Karman strayed off the court.
Karman’s inconsistency in keeping the ball inside the court allowed Jaqueline to break Delhi girl in the fourth game. The Indian repeated the same mistakes in the fifth game, which gave the Romanian 4-1 lead.
Seeded No 3, Karman fought hard in the sixth game as she approached teh net quite a few time andplayed volleys to win her second game of the set.
In the seventh game, Jaqueline kept things in control and engaged Karman in long rallies to take 5-2 lead.
Serving to save match point, Karman took the eighth game at 40-love. In the ninth game, Jaqueline again troubled Karman with long rallies before winning the set 6-3.
Come back for Karman
The first game of the second set saw both the players engaging in 14 deuces before Karman managed to hold her serve. The game continued for 23 minutes that set the tone for Karman as she won the second set 6-1 breaking Jaqueline in second and third games.
“I got a bit relaxed and lost my focus in the second set. Karman also hit her shots perfectly,” explained Jaqueline.
Over attacking approach
After winning the second set brilliantly, Karman failed to hold her tempo in the decider. Karman’s shots landed outside the court many a time, which allowed Jaqueline clinch the match aftertaking the third set 6-0.
“I did not play to my potential in the final set and made many mistakes, which cost me the game,” added Karman.
Results:
Final: 2-Jaqueline Adina Cristian (Rou) bt 3-Karman Kaur Thandi (Ind) 6-3, 1-6, 6-0.
