The Hindu : Morale boosting victory for Sonal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 25, 2003

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Morale boosting victory for Sonal

By Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI MAY 24. Winning a title is always a great feeling. Sonal Phadke has won a few, but winning another one, after nearly two years was a tremendous morale-booster for the petite Mumbaikar as she quelled the challenge from the top-seeded Liza Pereira 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the third leg in the $5000 ITF women's tennis circuit at the DLTA Complex here on Saturday.

On another pleasant evening, when the final was delayed by another spell of welcome rain in the Capital, both the finalists entertained the sparse gathering with their fine strokeplay.

While the 20-year-old Sonal was hungry for the trophy and played with determination, Liza looked a step slow on her feet and lacked that punch in her strokes.

It was understandable, as Sonal was returning after a week's rest, while Liza had played her heart out in the heat and dust for three weeks in a row. Liza had won 12 of her last 13 matches in the circuit, and it would not have been a surprise if she had felt her feet heavy this day.

Yet, the 19-year-old Liza competed on even terms for the better part, till the errors overtook her ambition for a second successive title. It all seemed to start in the third game of the first set, when Liza buried a volley into the net from a 90-degree angle on game point.

For a good volleyer, who has been excelling in doubles, it was a big surprise as to how Liza managed to hit that one into the net, when she was right on top. That was the first indication that she was feeling the pressure — the pressure to beat an opponent who has always mastered her.

Liza dropped serve in that game on a double fault on the second breakpoint, and that looked to have triggered a flurry of breaks in that set. Both did not hold serve thereafter, till Sonal served out the set, conceding one point in the tenth game.

In the second set, the momentum seemed to have swung, as Liza took a 3-0 lead, breaking Sonal at love in the second game and saving a breakpoint in the third. However, Sonal had nothing much to worry about, as it was just a bad game, and she was otherwise serving well and stroking close to her best, hitting her double-fisted shots on both sides with punch and a lot of craft.

Sonal bounced back into the set by breaking Liza in the fifth and seventh games. The fizz looked to have vanished in Liza's challenge as she erred far too frequently to give herself a fair chance to take the contest into the decider.

Liza managed to win a solitary point on her serve in those two games and Sonal did not have to do anything in those games except hit one of her patented backhand crosscourt winner. Liza was making all the errors, which was much in contrast to her fluent strokes earlier in the match.

Once Sonal held serve in a long drawn eighth game when she had to save five breakpoints, which she did comfortably with great help from across the net, only the formalities remained to be completed.

Sonal converted her fifth gamepoint in that eighth game, in which deuce was called nine times. It was her turn to shout "come on'', with a clenched fist, realising that she had just won a mental battle, that would help her canter through the final stretch.

Liza did fight a bit in the end, as she held serve by saving a matchpoint in the ninth game. Sonal missed another matchpoint on serve at 40-0 in the tenth game, but hit a delectable forehand down the line on the next point, with a silken soft touch, to put the icing on the cake. She turned to her younger sister Sagarika in the stands, and punched in the air, perhaps to say that she was delighted to have accomplished the task.

Victory was sweet indeed, as it was a revenge triumph for Sonal, as Liza had beaten her in the quarterfinals of the first leg in Indore.

``I was happy to have fought back from being 0-3 down in the second set. I was making mistakes then, but was happy with my overall game," said Sonal, who collected $650 for the title.

After a day's rest the 16 players who have qualified for the Masters will fight it out for the WTA points at the same venue from Monday.

If anything, the real title will be at stake next week.

The results (final): Sonal Phadke bt Liza Pereira 6-4, 6-4.

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