CWG Tennis: Rushmi pulls off upset, Bopanna out of singles

NEW DELHI - India’s Rushmi Chakravarthi pulled off a sensational upset while Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza hardly broke sweat to advance into the singles quarterfinals of the Commonwealth Games tennis competition here Wednesday.

It was, however, end of the road for Rohan Bopanna and Poojashree Venkatesha in the singles.

Somdev, the top seed, took just 41 minutes to send Sri Lanka’s Amresh Jayawickreme packing 6-0, 6-1 in the men’s singles second round. Sania scored a sublime 6-0, 6-2 victory over Brittany Teei of Cook Islands in women’s singles.

“I am excited to win my first match. I still need to deliver a lot. It is going to get tougher each day. The ball is heavy here, it flies a lot, and you have to use your wrist. I am happy my wrist is holding up,” said second-seeded Sania, who next plays New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic, seeded eighth.

In contrast, it was hard work for 616th ranked Rushmi, who stunned third-seeded England’s Katie O’ Brien, ranked 144, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5 in two hours.

“It’s the first time I have played her and she’s seeded, so it was a tough one. I have not been a regular on the circuit any longer, so it was one of the best wins of my career,” said Rushmi.

The 32-year-old is now up against sixth-seeded Olivia Rogowska of Australia.

However, Bopanna, couldn’t carry forward India’s winning streak and lost 2-6, 6-7(5) to second seeded and 31-year-old Australian Davis Cupper Peter Luczak.

There was more grim news in store as Poojashree Venkatesha, who raised hopes after her flawless win in the first round, went down 6-7(6), 3-6 to fifth-seeded Heather Watson of Guernsey.

Somdev and Bopanna are scheduled to play another match later in the day when they take on Scots Jamie Murray and Colin Fleming in the doubles first round while Sania and Rushmi, seeded fourth, play Scotland’s Mhairi Brown and Jocelyn Rae.

It was never expected to be an easy match for Bopanna, who has carved a niche for himself as a doubles specialist. But following the 30-year-old Banglorean’s power-packed performance against the top-ranked Brazilians in the Davis Cup last month, and the hot and humid home-conditions here, an upset was on the cards.

The Indian struggled to find his rhythm and made a stream of errors. Bopanna’s backhand proved to be his undoing. His booming serve was the silver lining in his 106 minutes struggle where he hit 11 aces though he made seven double faults.

The 133rd-ranked Luczak swiftly notched up a 3-1 lead before breaking the Indian again in the eight game to take a set lead.

Egged on by a vociferous crowd of a few hundred, Bopanna hung tough in the second set to enforce a tie-breaker where he led 4-1 but let the lead slip to hand the Australian the set and the match.