Kristina Dmitruk stops Vaidehi Chaudhari in her stride

Kristina Dmitruk made the semifinals of the ITF women’s tennis tournament in Gurugram on Friday.
| Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan

Kristina Dmitruk continued to assert the versatility of her game as she eased past Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-0, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the $30,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliyawas, on Friday.

Fifth seed Kristina stroked with considerable acumen, as she moved her opponent around with admirable variety in terms of depth and speed, to force the submission.

After such robust performances in the first two rounds when she beat Shruti Ahlawat and Sahaja Yamalapalli, dropping seven games in all, it was an anticlimactic exit for Vaidehi. A sincere student of the game, two-time national champion Vaidehi will continue to get better with such matches.

The other Indian in the quarterfinals, Zeel Desai took time to settle into her rhythm and thus could not compete as well as she showed in the later part of the match against second seed Ekaterina Makarova.

Even though she managed to win only six games, Zeel was able to match her opponent stroke for stroke in the second half of the match.

Makarova will face Antonia Schmidt of Germany in the semifinals. The other semifinal will be between Kristina, and the Japanese qualifier Ikumi Yamazaki who saved a match point with a brilliant backhand winner to beat compatriot Haruka Kaji, the fourth seed, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in a battle of wits that lasted four hours and two minutes.

Makarova and Ekaterina Reyngold beat Shrivalli Bhamidipaty and Vaidehi 6-2, 6-4 in the doubles semifinals, thus wiping out the Indian challenge. Polina Iatcenko and Mariia Tkacheva made the final with a hard fought 7-6(4), 7-6(7) win over the Japanese Rinon Okuwaki and Michika Ozeki. 

The results:

Quarterfinals: Kristina Dmitruk bt Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-0, 6-3; Ikumi Yamazaki (Jpn) bt Haruka Kaji (Jpn) 6-4, 5-7, 7-5; Antonia Schmidt (Ger) bt Polina Iatcenko 6-4, 6-2; Ekaterina Makarova bt Zeel Desai 6-2, 6-4.

Doubles (semifinals): Polina Iatcenko & Mariia Tkacheva bt Rinon Okuwaki & Michika Ozeki (Jpn) 7-6(4), 7-6(7); Ekaterina Makarova & Ekaterina Reyngold bt Shrivalli Bhamidipaty & Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-2, 6-4.