A Backhand crosscourt whizzed past Maria Kirilenko; she could just watch as it landed right inside the line. Third set, a break down already, and the eighth seed was sinking further. She would never have imagined it would come to this. A first set lead, and three match points to wrap it up, but today was Zi Yan’s day.

So what, the Chinese seemed to say, as she battled through a second set tie-break with her unorthodox game, complete with a double handed forehand, absorbing the effect of two match points there, and strolled through the decider 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-1.

“In the first set, I could not catch the ball. In the second, I hit more spin and stayed in the point as long as I could. Maybe she was tired in the third set — she missed a lot of balls,” said Yan.

Having been so close, yet not quite there, seemed to have taken a toll on the Russian’s mind, and this time, the Indian sojourn was not to end in a trophy for the 2007 Sunfeast Open champion. “I was quite upset about the second set, and she played very well in the decider,” was Kirilenko’s verdict.

Whatever the analysis, it will be the unseeded Chinese player who progresses to round two to play Olga Savchuk of Ukraine, who defeated Britain’s Katie O-Brien 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.

Zi Yan has largely concentrated on doubles till now, and enjoyed a fair amount of success, picking up the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles in 2006. Now, though, ,she is playing more singles with an eye on the Beijing Games.

... contd.