TENNIS
Tatiana beats Hungary’s Panna to win sixth pro title
Tatiana Prozorova survived six match points to outwit second seed and former world No.76 Panna Udvardy of Hungary 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 in the final of the $40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Sunday.
For the sparse gathering that faithfully stayed glued to the seats for three hours, it was a high quality affair as both players did not hold back right through the gripping contest.
The 21-year-old Russian Tatiana was perhaps a little more hungry and a lot more athletic to eventually convert her fifth match point for her sixth title in the professional circuit.
The 26-year-old Panna did everything right except convert one of those match points, three of them in the 12th game of the second set at 40-0 on her serve, and three more in the tie-break when she led 6-3.
It was indeed a fairy tale revival of fortunes for Tatiana, but there was no dearth of fight or drama in the decider. Tatiana did take a 4-2 lead, but Panna restored parity. A string of errors saw Panna drop serve at love in the ninth game.
In what proved to be the last game, Tatiana was serving at 40-15 and had two more match points. She had to save three break points to force her fifth match point. When Tatiana slipped and fell in a tough rally, Panna’s shot sailed wide. Tatiana converted her fall into a celebration as she lay on her back to a rousing applause from the fans.
A very sporting Panna cheerfully walked across the net to congratulate Tatiana on her hard earned victory. This was easily one of the finest matches witnessed on court No. 1 at the venue.
Panna has won 12 titles and only one of them has been on hard court. But there was no hint about her speciality on clay, as she briskly glided into her shots and stroked with intensity for an entertaining fare.
– Kamesh Srinivasan
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