Ekaterina Makarova in line for a double

Ekaterina Makarova made the singles final and won the doubles final in the ITF women’s tennis tournament in Gurugram on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan

Second seed Ekaterina Makarova recovered from a slow start to beat Antonia Schmidt of Germany 7-6(3), 6-3 in the semifinals of the $30,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliyawas, on Saturday.

On a bright day, when the gusty winds had taken a breather, leading to stable conditions and high quality fare on court, the 29-year-old Makarova bounced back from being down 2-5 to scotch the hopes of the German who was serving and stroking with authority in the first half of the contest.

In the final, Makarova will challenge the former world No.2 junior, the 21-year-old Kristina Dmitruk who continued to impress by dismissing the challenge of qualifier Ikumi Yamazaki of Japan for the loss of four games.

For the third match in a row, the fluent-stroking Kristina won one set at 6-0, asserting her error-free game, composure and superb athleticism.

It was a splendid run by Yamazaki as she had won five matches, including two in the qualifying event. Her last match against compatriot Haruka Kaji had lasted four hours. Yet, Yamazaki was quite energetic right through the match, even though Kristina was able to assert her supremacy in clear terms.

Makarova joined hands with Ekaterina Reyngold and scripted a 2-6, 6-4, [10-7] victory in the entertaining doubles final against another Russian pair of Polina Iatcenko and Mariia Tkacheva.

While Makarova will be looking for her eighth singles title on the morrow, Kristina will be aiming to win her sixth.

The results:

Singles (semifinals): Kristina Dmitruk bt Ikumi Yamazaki (Jpn) 6-4, 6-0; Ekaterina Makarova bt Antonia Schmidt (Ger) 7-6(3), 6-3.

Doubles (final): Ekaerina Reyngold & Ekaterina Makarova bt Polina Iatcenko & Mariia Tkacheva 2-6, 6-4, [10-7].