Karman one win away from maiden ITF singles title

Team Udayavani, Jul 15, 2017, 12:26 PM IST

New Delhi : Karman Kaur Thandi earned herself an opportunity to win her maiden ITF singles title by breezing into the final of the INR 1,611,248.58 ITF event in Niman, China today. The unseeded Indian stormed past fifth seed Xinyu Gao 6-1 6-1 in a matter of 68 minutes to reach her third singles final and first at this level.

Twice she has reached the singles finals but those were INR 644,499.43events in Hua Hin (October 1026) and Indore (December 2015). She has won three ITF doubles titles so far. The 19-year-old broke her rival five times in the match and saved the only breakpoint she faced. Karman said the scoreline suggests an easy win but the reality was different.

“It was not easy, she’s ranked 210. I was very focussed and calm on the court since I knew it won’t be easy. I knew I can’t get loose on any point and have to keep intensity high and fight every point,” Karman, a Delhi University student, told PTI after her match. Further elaborating on the match, the 413th ranked player said, “I served well and was dominating the match. I didn’t give her any chance to dominate.

Even on her serve my returns were good and deep.” She will now battle it out with China’s Jing Jing Lu, who ended the run of Japan’s Miyabi Inoue 6-4 6-4 in a tight semifinal.