Tulpule triumphs

Eighth seed Radhika Tulpule defeated seventh seed Archana Venkatraman 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) in two hours and 20 minutes to win the $10,000 NECC-ITF women's tennis tournament, in Pune, on Friday.

Tulpule, who had beaten top seed Sai Jayalakshmi in the semi-finals, looked shaky initially and lost her serve in the very first game of the match. On the other hand, Archana found her touch from start and played within her limits. She concentrated on playing long rallies from the baseline and waited for opportunities as she held serve right through to take the set 6-4.

After dropping serve in the first game of the second set, Tulpule changed her game plan and started to attack the net more often. The move paid off as she broke Archana in the second and the sixth games to take the set and make it one set apiece.

The decider was a see-saw battle as both players preferred to stay at the baseline and take no chances. In the end, it was Tulpule's better consistency and staying power that won her the set and match in the tie-breaker.