Leander, Nirupama fail to qualify for Australian Open

Leander, Nirupama fail to qualify for Australian Open
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, January 13: Indian hopes in the Australian Open singles were dashed on Saturday when Leander Paes and Nirupama Vaidyanathan bowed out from the third round of qualifying tournament after putting up a spirited fight against higher-rated rivals at Melbourne Park.

Paes fell to Marcus Ondruska of South Africa 6-3 5-7 3-6, while Nirupama was edged out 5-7 6-2 2-6 by France’s Alexandra Fusai in the final round of the qualifiers.

Paes started superbly and won the first set 6-3 but the Indian failed to keep up the tempo and lost a closely fought second set 5-7, according to official website of Australian Open. He could not put up much fight in the decider and lost 3-6 in the match that lasted for nearly two and half hours.

Paes, who defeated Justin Bower of the United States 6-3, 6-4 in the second round yesterday, was in total command in the first set against an error-prone Ondruska.

He blasted two aces and 12 winners and pocketed the set despite a large number of unforced errors and low first serve percentage. But Ondurska was impressive on both these counts. Paes’ game fell apart after the first set and he started committing unforced errors. He served badly in the second set and committed 11 unforced errors compared to six by Ondurska. The Indian had four break points but could convert only one. Ondruska on the other hand got three chances to break his rival and succeeded on two occasions, and that proved sufficient for a 7-5 victory for the South African.

Nirupama, the only Indian women to win a round in a Grand Slam tournament, also had a good chance to win. She went down fighting in the first set and then recovered superbly to win the second set. But the exertion proved too much as she also went down tamely in the decider. She committed a large number of unforced errors (46-33) and that ultimately proved her downfall against the Frenchwoman.