Kyra Shroff, the qualifier, shone like a star on a moonless night. The 19-year-old Mumbai girl came up with some stunning shots when the chips were down to first strangulate and then whip up an upset win over third seed Zuzana Luknarova of Slovakia in the QNet $25000 ITF Open women's tennis championship at the KSLTA courts on Tuesday.
The Indian girl produced a string of winners that brooked no response from the third seed, who caved under the relentless forehand pressure and the sapping sun to lose 6-3, 6-3.
“I owe whatever I achieved to my coach Prahlad Srinath and trainer in Barcelona… Am based out of Barcelona and they have kept me going,” said the teenager who fought off juvenile diabetes to reach what she is today. It helps me… as my diet is very controlled and specific… also my activities… But the support from my family and friends is immense and has helped me all through…”
Bouncing back
Down 0-2 in the first, Kyra shrugged off early uncertainty, more in the mind than anything else, and raced away to a 4-2 lead before breaking her famed opponent in the fifth and again in the ninth to claim the first set at 6-3. In the second, with the sun beating down hard, it was tough on both the players. Kyra weathered it better after trading the first four games and then hitting some telling down-the-line passing shots for which Zuzanova had no reply.
Down 3-5 with a spate of double faults, the Slovak simply did not have any fight in her.
Local girl Sharmada Balu, also a qualifier, took a set off Korea's Sung-Hee Han before losing 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-5.
The results: Singles (first round): Nungnadda Wannasuk (Tha) bt Wongteanchai (Tha) 7-6 (4), 6-1; Kyra Shroff (Ind) bt Zuzana Luknarova (Svk) 6-3, 6-3; Jovana Jaksic (Srb) bt Michaela bt Michaela Frlicka (Ger) 6-3, 6-2; Keren Shlomo (Isr) bt Fatma Al Nabhani (Oma) 6-4, 7-6 (5); Nungnadda Wannasuk (Tha) bt Varunya Wongteanchai (Tha) 7-6 (4), 6-1; Kyra Shroff (Ind) bt Zuzana Luknarova (Svk) 6-3,6-3; Jovana Jaksic (Srb) bt Michaela Frlicka (Ger) 6-3, 6-2; Keren Shlomo (Isr) bt Fatma Al Nabhani (Oma) 6-4, 7-6 (5); Sung-Hee Han (Kor) bt Sharmada Balu (Ind) 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-5; Aleksandrina Naydenova (Bul) bt Barbara Luz (Por) 6-4, 6-2; Andrea Koch-Benvenuto (Chi) bt Spurti Shivalingaiah (Ind) 6-2, 6-4.
Doubles: Tamaryn Handler (Bel) & Melanie Klaffner (Aut) bt Trang Huynh Phuong Dai (Vie) & Ai Wen Zhu (Chn) 6-2, 6-0; Tamara Curovic (Srb) & Rishika Sunkara (Ind) bt Prerna Bhambri (Ind) & Ashvarya Shrivastava (Ind) 6-1, 6-0; Tadeja Majeric (Slo) & Anja Prislan (Slo) bt Emi Mutaguchi (Jpn) & Akiko Omae (Jpn) 6-3, 6-2.
