NEW DELHI, Dec 3: It took a powerful German Miss, ranked No 140 in the world, to make Nirupama Vaidyanathan look vulnerable. After almost five years, the Indian pro got blown away in straight sets on home soil in the quarter-finals of the $75000 Flash Sports ITF Challenger at the DTA facility here on Thursday.And with that loss, the lone Indian flame went out of the richest women's tournament to be held in India so far.
Meanwhile, second seeded American Jolene Watanabe was today's highest seed to make an exit. Italian Tithiana Garbin came back after a first set loss to make the semi-final with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 win.
Seventh seeded Amanda Hopmans improved considerably upon her earlier matches to bounce Lorna Woodroeffe 6-2, 2-6, 7-6. The adorable Japanese Rika Hiraki is warming up to the Indian courts after two days of rather bland tennis. After making the singles semi-final, she got together with Louise Fleming to edge into the doubles semi-final.
Results:Rika Hiraki (Jpn) bt Tina Krizan (Slo)6-1, 6-4; Amanda Hopmans (Ned) bt Lorna Woodroeffe (GBR) 6-3, 6-2; Miriam Schnitzer (Ger) bt Nirupama Vaidyanathan (Ind) 6-0, 6-4; Tithiana Garbon (Ita) bt Jolene Watanabe (USA) 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Semi-final line-up: Rika Hiraki vs Amanda Hopmans; Miriam Schnitzer vs Tithiana Garbin.
Doubles: Quarter-finals:Rika Hiraki/Louise Fleming bt Shiho Hisamatsu/Madoka Kuki 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, Lenka Cenkova/Amanda Hopmans bt Nataly Cahana/Hira Rosen 7-6(5), 6-2.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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