Akgul Amanmuradova -- tall, athletic, powerful -- blasted past Philippines’ Czarina-Mae Arevalo 6-0, 6-2 to establish some order at the R K Khanna stadium, following an afternoon of scratchy tennis in the Fed Cup Asia Oceania Group II round robin league competition. Amanmuradova’s 45-minute win gave Uzbekistan a winning 2-0 lead.
Later in the evening, Dilyara Saidkhodjaeva, playing alongside Amanmuradova, got the better of Arevalo and Denise Dy 6-4, 6-4 to seal a 3-0 win for their side. Earlier, in the opening match of the day, Uzbekistan’s number two player Ivanna Israilova, 19, and ranked 624 in the world, oscillated between average and pathetic. However, after 1 hour and 50 minutes of play, the heavily-built Uzbek, managed to get her game together to score a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 win over 16-year-old Anja-Vanessa Peter.
For most part, it was a match neither player wanted to win. Israilova, the higher rated of the two, is also the more seasoned and powerful, but on Tuesday she was playing like a boatman returning to the waters after an eternity. She hesitated to step up when the chances came her way and when she did step up she didn’t follow through with any conviction, which meant sitters were frequently deposited at the bottom of the net. Vanessa, however, made good use of her opponent’s shaky play and stole ahead at regular intervals with her none-too-pretty moonballing tactics.
Vanessa shot ahead to 3-0 in the opening set before Israilova won the next four games. Just when Israilova looked to have gained control of the situation she lost her way to give the 16-year-old Filipino the early advantage. Israilova, after levelling set scores, continued on the rollercoaster in the decider. Finally, down the home stretch, the Uzbek played tough, breaking her opponent in the eleventh game before serving out the match much to the relief of everyone present.
Attacking Akgul
Amanmuradova, dressed in sparkling yellow, however, lifted the gloom with her attacking brand of tennis. Ranked 287 in the world and playing at the top of her game she cut off all of Arevalo’s escape routes. The Filipino, 19, and without a WTA point to her credit, was out of her league. She plays solid off both her flanks and has a good first serve but against a more accomplished opponent she looked pedestrian.
Arevalo won her first point of the match as late as the fourth game. But when it came it came in style, a sizzling forehand crosscourt that caught the Uzbek well short. What put Amanmuradova well and truly ahead on the day was her serve. She had 12 aces and four doublefaults to her opponent’s five doublefaults. The first set was over even before Arevalo could adjust to the pace of her opponent’s serve and in all the giant Uzbek, who was sprinkling the court with winners, dropped just eight points in the set.
Forcing errors
Arevalo found her range somewhat in the second set and engaged her opponent in rallies in the hope of forcing the errors. While the ploy worked in as much as Arevalo managed to win a couple of games, holding serves in the fourth and sixth games, she couldn’t quite stop her rampaging opponent. Amanmuradova broke in the tenth game when Arevalo surrendered her serve and the match with a doublefault.
Results:
Uzbekistan bt Philippines 3-0 (Ivanna Israilova bt Anja-Vanessa Peter 4-6, 6-2, 7-5; Akgul Amanmuradova bt Czarina-Mae Arevalo 6-0, 6-2; Akgul Amanmuradova/Dilyara Saidkhodjaeva bt Czarina-Mae Arevalo/Denise Dy 6-4, 6-4).
Syria bt Turkmenistan 2-1 (Hazar Sidki lost Ummarahmat Alisultanova 2-6, 2-6; Shaza Tinawi bt Almira Haliyeva 6-3, 6-3; Shaza Tinawai/Hazar Sidki bt Almira Halliyeva/Ummarahmat Alisultanova 6-1, 6-3).
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Wednesday, April 20, 2005
