Rao, Peng in ITF Futures final
Dhiraj Shetty
US-based Sunitha Rao and China's Shuai Peng scored contrasting victories en route to the final of the women's ITF Futures tournament on Friday.
At the MSLTA courts, in Mumbai, Rao easily beat Czech Camilla Kremer 6-2, 6-3 while Peng wore down sixth seed Suchanan Viratprasert of Thailand 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 in an engrossing encounter.
Though Kremer had entered the semi-finals by scalping second seed Manisha Malhotra, she could not make much of an impact on Rao. The eighth seed was simply too strong for her and won in quick time.
But Peng's victory was in sharp contrast. The Chinese recovered splendidly after losing the first set to outsmart her opponent.
After Viratprasert took the first set easily, the Chinese clawed her way back into the game, beginning with a keenly-contested third game of the second set.
Playing defensive against an aggressive opponent, Peng made Viratprasert fight for every point and used the flanks repeatedly to eventually tire her out.
Peng took the second set via the tie-breaker and thereafter there was no stopping her.
Attempting to break Peng's defence, Viratprasert made some unforced errors and finally caved in in the third set after being broken in the fourth game.
Annabel Blow and Dominika Luzarova won the doubles final, beating Hsiao-Han Chao/Suchanan Viratprasert 6-4, 6-3.
