Two Seeds Down, Mirza On Deck at WTA Bangalore
Posted on February 14, 2006
The seeds went 0-for-2 on the opening day at the WTA stop in Bangalore Monday, where unheralded Ukrainian Mariya Koryttseva ousted No. 5 Aiko Nakamura after getting bageled in the first set, and Aussie veteran Nicole Pratt straight-setted No. 7 Elena Vesnina.
"She played really fast and hard in the first set," said the 20-year-old Koryttseva after her first tour win. "Playing her was very difficult for me, so I just started to enjoy it and that seemed to help. I was fighting for every ball, but in the first set, I was hitting too short and making too many errors. In the second set, I didn't change my game, just got more consistent. I knew what I wanted to do, it just had to come together."
For Pratt the upset was sweet after previously winning her only tour title at Hyderabad, the tournament's former location, in 2004.
"I hope to create many more special memories here," Pratt said. "Getting through the first match was big."
The Ukraine put another player in the second round when the battle of the Bondarenkos was won by Alona defeating sister Kateryna in straight sets.
Other un-seeds into the second round were Hungarian Melinda Czink (d. (WC) Chakravarthi) and France's Camille Pin (d. Widjaja, bagel in the second).
The final round of qualifying was also completed with four more onto the main dance floor in Daniela Kix (AUT), Tatiana Poutchek (BLR), Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS), and Katarina Kachlikova.
Scheduled for Tuesday in Bangalore are Rodionova vs. Bammer, Kachlikova vs. Lakhani, Kanepi vs. Bhambri, Mirza vs. Muller, Fedak vs. Laine, Tanasugarn vs. Kudryavtseva, Santangelo vs. Nagyova, King vs. Poutchek, and Obziler vs. Hsieh.
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