<p>Dipika Pallikal, the 20-year-old from Chennai, entered the quarterfinals of the Australian Open squash tournament by defeating sixth seed Camille Serme 3-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6, here Thursday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Pallikal, seeded 11th, showed great skill and grit to beat her more experienced opponent. Quick off the blocks, Serme took the first set 3-11, but this was the only set that the Frenchwoman would win in the match.<br /><br />Pallikal came back strongly and clinched a closely-fought second set 11-9. Continuing her good form, she took the third set with an identical score line and dominated her opponent in the fourth set to clinch the match.<br /><br />Pallikal said: “I walked into the Australian Open really nervous as I had spent the summer training really hard with Rithwik (Bhattacharya) in Bombay where we had worked very hard on different aspects of my game.<br /><br />“And after working so hard, you tend to put more pressure on yourself to perform, but with this win I feel more confident. Though I lost the first set, I realised that my strength is my straight game and continued to play just that.<br /><br />“Camille had played with me on the junior circuit and she had broken into the top 10 on the senior circuit pretty quickly, so I knew this wasn't going to be an easy game. <br /><br />“As soon as the Australian Open draws were released, I had known that I would be playing against Camille if I came through my first round. So I spent a lot of time analysing her game through videos of her matches, all prepping for this day.”<br /><br />With her win over Serme, Pallikal, who had earlier beaten Australian Christine Nunn 11-5, 11-2, 11-5, will face 19-year-old American Amanda Sobhy who secured her spot in the quarterfinals post a massive upset, beating World No.3 Jenny Duncalf. <br /><br />Looking forward to her next match, Pallikal said: “Amanda is having a great run at the tournament and will be a tough opponent; tomorrow is going to be a tough day and I have to be at my best.”</p>
<p>Dipika Pallikal, the 20-year-old from Chennai, entered the quarterfinals of the Australian Open squash tournament by defeating sixth seed Camille Serme 3-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6, here Thursday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Pallikal, seeded 11th, showed great skill and grit to beat her more experienced opponent. Quick off the blocks, Serme took the first set 3-11, but this was the only set that the Frenchwoman would win in the match.<br /><br />Pallikal came back strongly and clinched a closely-fought second set 11-9. Continuing her good form, she took the third set with an identical score line and dominated her opponent in the fourth set to clinch the match.<br /><br />Pallikal said: “I walked into the Australian Open really nervous as I had spent the summer training really hard with Rithwik (Bhattacharya) in Bombay where we had worked very hard on different aspects of my game.<br /><br />“And after working so hard, you tend to put more pressure on yourself to perform, but with this win I feel more confident. Though I lost the first set, I realised that my strength is my straight game and continued to play just that.<br /><br />“Camille had played with me on the junior circuit and she had broken into the top 10 on the senior circuit pretty quickly, so I knew this wasn't going to be an easy game. <br /><br />“As soon as the Australian Open draws were released, I had known that I would be playing against Camille if I came through my first round. So I spent a lot of time analysing her game through videos of her matches, all prepping for this day.”<br /><br />With her win over Serme, Pallikal, who had earlier beaten Australian Christine Nunn 11-5, 11-2, 11-5, will face 19-year-old American Amanda Sobhy who secured her spot in the quarterfinals post a massive upset, beating World No.3 Jenny Duncalf. <br /><br />Looking forward to her next match, Pallikal said: “Amanda is having a great run at the tournament and will be a tough opponent; tomorrow is going to be a tough day and I have to be at my best.”</p>