Memorable double for Monique

By Kamesh Srinivasan

JAIPUR, SEPT. 2. Monique Adamczak passed Manisha Malhotra to her maiden title in the $ 10,000 ITF women's circuit tennis tournament on the grasscourts of the Jai Club here on Saturday.

It was a well-earned victory for the unseeded 17-year- old girl from Sydney as she pulled off winners when it mattered in scoring a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 triumph over the 346th ranked top seed.

Monique's joy was complete when she won the doubles title as well, as she partnered Jennifer Schmidt of Austria to beat the top-seeded Sai Jayalakshmy and Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 in the final.

Monique's fine display on the unpredictable surface would have pleased Wally Masur, who trains her occasionally in Australia. Her Polish father, Thomas Adamczak, was on hand to savour the occasion.

The 23-year-old Manisha had survived 20 doublefaults in overcoming the fourth-seeded I-Ting Wang 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) in the semifinals on Friday. However, she was unable to enact such bravado this day, as Monique slammed a return winner and a backhand down the line passing shot in converting the only break points in the fifth and seventh games of the third set, which proved decisive.

Manisha was also unable to deliver her best serves, as she had done with 14 aces in the semifinal, but had fewer doublefaults, 11 to be precise. She did save three breakpoints each in the first and third games, and also broke for 3-1 in the decider, but the momentum swung when Manisha missed a gamepoint to go up 4-1.

At that stage, the courageous Monique came up with three winners in a row to swing the pendulum decisively in her favour. Manisha could not win a game thereafter, as Monique called the shots, slamming spectacular strokes at will. Manisha also mishit a simple volley at 3-3, 30-15 in the decider and got broken as Monique unleashed two successive backhand winners.

Earlier, Manisha had conceded far too much in the first set, as she struggled to find her rhythm, and slid to 0-4, hardly getting anything right, much in contrast to her rival who was on a song.

The Indian No. 2 did well to bounce back in the match, despite being broken in the first game of the second set. She played confidently and put her stamp of class in clinching the second set, in which she rarely put a foot wrong.

Monique had 29 winners in the match, including 11 passing shots and nine return winners. Quite significantly, 17 of them came in the third set. That made Manisha reluctant to approach the net, apart from the fact that she made a hash of many easy volleys.

``I was a step slow in reaching the net in the third set. I missed a `clutch volley' at 30-15 when it was 3-3. That changed the tempo. I missed a few big volleys. She returned pretty well. I needed to come to the net, but she passed well'', said Manisha who was overall happy with her fitness and the way she played the match.

``It is my favourite surface. I am happy with the way I played in the tournament'', said Monique, who had made it to the singles quarterfinals in the Wimbledon juniors event last year, and the same round in doubles this year.

Monique, however, had been hampered by a stress fracture of her left shin recently, which had meant early exits in the last few tournaments. Her best in the professional circuit has been making the semifinals of a similar tournament back home in Australia two years ago.

In comparison, Manisha has three titles at this level, won in the US and England, but has been waiting to win one on home soil. Maybe she will get a chance in the tournament next week, when the action shifts to the true bounce of the hardcourts in Delhi.

Monique won five WTA points each for her singles and doubles triumphs, and collected $ 1600 for the singles title, and 325 dollars as her share for the doubles victory. Manisha added four WTA points and $ 1000 to her purse.

Sai and Rushmi, who played very well in stretching the contest to its climax, were left to rue the three breakpoints they missed on Jennifer's serve in the 11th game of the decider. The Indian pair had to be content with four WTA points and splitting $ 350.

The results:

Singles: Final: Monique Adamczak (Aus) bt Manisha Malhotra 6-2, 2-6, 6-3; Semifinals: Manisha Malhotra bt I-Ting Wang (Tpe) 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6); Monique Adamczak bt Suchanan Viratprasert (Tha) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

Doubles final: Monique Adamczak & Jennifer Schmidt (Aut) bt Rushmi Chakravarthi & Sai Jayalakshmy 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.

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