Nirupama falls at final hurdle of Dubai qualifiers

Nirupama falls at final hurdle of Dubai qualifiers
United News of India

Dubai, February 19: India’s Nirupama Vaidyanathan just missed out on making it to the main draw of the Dubai Women’s Tennis Championship, losing a three-set thriller to Lin Krasnoroutskaya of Russia here today.

Nirupama, the lone Indian qualifier in this WTA Tour event, lost 7-6, 3-6, 3-6.Nirupama staved off a compelling fight from her Russian opponent before winning the first set but tended to err in the second set, which she lost without much of a fight.

The only Indian player to won a Grand Slam match when she made it to the second round of the Australian Open earlier this year, Nirupama did try to reverse the traffic in the third set but in vain.

Nirupama scored a hard-fought 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-8) victory over Leizel Horn of South Africa yesterday.

The Indian came from behind to beat Horn in a gruelling encounter.The Indian committed a series on unforced errors in the opening set to lose it tamely.

But she came back strongly in the second and kept her cool in the nerve-wrecking tie-breaker of the decider to win the match.

The $5,65,000 tournament, making its debut in Dubai, features world No. 1 Martina Hingis, who is tipped as favourite. The field is also blazing with ranks of France’s Mary Pierce, Spanish veteran Arantxa Sachez-Vicario and Croatia’s Iva Majoli.

The winner will be awarded a cash prize of $90,000 while the runner-up will get $48,000.