Isha keeps Indian flag flying

Maharashtra Herald, November 16, 2007

Suhrid Barua
suhridb@sakalherald.com

PUNE: Southpaw Isha Lakhani lifted the pall of gloom surrounding India’s campaign in the NECC-ITF women’s tennis tournament, ripping apart fellow Indian Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-1, 6-1 to sail into the singles semi-finals at the Deccan Gymkhana tennis courts here on Thursday. Taking the court in an early morning match, the national champion settled into in top gear straightway, breaking Rushmi in the second game with a down-the-line backhand winner and jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
Rushmi struggled to get her first serve in and that allowed Isha enough leeway to go for the big strokes on her second serve. The 443-ranked Chennai girl, who has hitherto put on a determined show en route to the quarter-finals, found Isha a tough nut to crack and never looked like matching her game. She again dropped serve in the fourth game before holding serve in the sixth game, but by then it was too late for her to mount a comeback.
It was a similar tale in the second set. Isha kept her foot on the accelerator and broke Rushmi in the very first game. The early break took out whatever fight Rushmi had in her and she was merely going through the motions, waiting for the inevitable to happen.
Isha on the otherhand, was disciplined with her serve. Exhibiting solid baseline game and clinical precision at the net, she made Rushmi’s cup of woes brimming over when the latter conceded serve in the third game as Isha took charge. The 22-year-old Mumbai girl completed the formalities with a 6-1, 6-1 romp. Isha will be up against the 518-ranked Ling Zhang of Hong Kong in the semi-finals. Zhang rallied from a set down to prevail over Kyung-Kee Chae of Korea 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in a gripping contest.
The match assumed an interesting turn with both players splitting the first two sets. Zhang took the confidence of winning the second set into the decider. She broke Chae in the opening game to gain confidence The 739-ranked Korean appeared lost. Her game fell to pieces, her serve went haywire while her groundstrokes were beginning to wear an inconsistent look.