Rushmi survives scare; meets Meghha in semis

Mumbai, May 24 (UNI) Top seed Rushmi Chakravarthi had to dig deep into her reserves to battle from a set down and defeat seventeen year old Swiss girl Nicole Riner 1-6, 6-3 6-2 to enter the semi-finals of the 10,000 dollar MSLTA-ITF Women's Circuit Tennis Tournament here today.

Rushmi plays local girl and sixth seed Meghha Vakaria, who had a tough first set against third seed Cassandra Barr, in the last four.

After losing the first set Barr struggled and eventually had to retire. Second seed Ankita Bhambri was also made to sweat it out by unseeded Glorgia Mortello, winning 6-3 in the third set. Bhambri has set herself a semi-final clash against Marinne Giraud, who looked the most impressive of the lot, as she easily beat her doubles partner Isha Lakhani 6-1, 6-1.

Rushmi was put under some real pressure from Nicole Riner whose consistency was making it difficult for Chakravarthi to keep hitting the winners. Nicole's patience allowed her to control the game as she began moving Rushmi around on court. After getting the openings Nicole put winners past the experienced Rushmi. Nicole won the first set with ease at 6-1.

The second set saw Rushmi play to her strengths leaving Nicole literally scampering to stay in the set. The frustration seemed to get the better of Nicole as her inexperience showed when she began giving away loose points. Rushmi controlled the match to take the next two sets 6-3, 6-2 to complete a satisfying comeback.

Second seed Ankita Bhambri was also pushed the distance for the second day in a row, this time by unseeded Glorgia Mortello.

Bhambri, from the outset, looked the more powerful of the two on court. Her hard hitting and confident beginning put her 4-0 ahead after having broken the Mortello serve twice. What was opportunity for Bhambri to serve the first set out almost turned into a comeback for Motello as she broke Bhambri's serve for the first time to pull the set back a little at 5-3. Mortello had an opportunity to claw back and hence went for her shots but Bhambri held the upper hand and pulled off some great winners to break Mortello's serve and win the set.

Mortello concentrated all her efforts on winning the second set and she hit Bhambri hard right from the word go. A few errors from Bhabri helped her cause as she broke and then held her own serve to win the set 6-2. Bhambri started the third set much like the first.

She went for her shots and managed to take a 3-0 lead; breaking Mortello's serve once. Bhambri continued to be a break up through the set but Mortello had a golden opportunity to reduce the advantage when she has a break point at 5-3. Mortello denied Bhambri her first match point but after she failed to convert a second break point she surrendered the match to Bhambri.

Fourth seed Marinne Giraud of Mauritius, who plays Ankita Bhambri, said, ''I have a played a good tournament and I am happy with the way that I played. It will be a tough game against Ankita and I'm looking forward to it.'' Results: Singles (Q/F): 1-Rushmi Chakravarthi (IND) bt Nicole Riner (SUI) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2; 2-Ankita Bhambri (IND) bt Glorgia Mortello (ITA) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3; 4-Marinne Giraud (MRI) bt Isha Lakhani (IND) 6-1, 6-1; 6-Meghha Vakaria (IND) bt 3-Cassandra Barr (AUS) 7-5, 1-0 ret.

Doubles (S/F): 3-Marinne Giraud (MRI)/ Isha Lakhani (IND) bt 1-Rushmi Chakravarthi (IND)/ Mariana Muchi-Torres (VEN) 6-2, 6-1; 2-Ankita&Sanaa Bhambri (IND) bt Vishika Chhetri/ Poojashree Venkatesha (IND) 6-3, 6-2.

UNI