ITF Women's Bengaluru Open: Bejlek ends Sahaja's run, Jeanjean topples Marino

Bengaluru: At 5 feet 2 inches, Sara Bejlek isn’t too tall for a tennis player. But the 18-year-old Czech is quicker on her feet than many others which more than makes up for the vertical disadvantage. 

All the extra court Bejlek’s legs were able to cover during her quarterfinal clash against a 5-feet-7-inch tall Sahaja Yamalapalli gave the former a 6-4, 6-4 win and put her in the last-four line-up in the singles draw of the KPB Trust Women’s Open here. 

“I would say I play 90% of my matches against players who are taller than me,” said Bejlek in her post-match interview. 

“So, I think I need to be smarter than them and of course I need to run more. That’s my game. And it's not something bad for me as I need to play tennis that suits my height,” explained the World No. 155.

By her own admission, Bejlek struggled to play to her full potential on Friday but did enough to advance at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA). 

Coming off of two good wins, much was expected of India No. 2 Sahaja. But the 24-year-old Hyderabadi was broken as early as the fifth game in the first set. Though Sahaja got one back in the eighth to level scores at 4-4, Bejlek struck again in the ninth and held her serve right after to win the opening set. 

The second set looked more evenly poised. While Sahaja’s ploy of using high balls was met with Bejlek moving forward to catch the ball early, the latter’s considerably weaker forehand returns were being exploited by the former. 

However, the left-handed Bejlek, who had more in her reserves in the end, closed out the match when the lone Indian left in the event hit a cross-court forehand wide.  

On the adjacent court, it was another comfortable win for the top-seeded German Tatjana Maria as she sent out Thailand’s Lanlana Taraudee with a 6-2, 6-2 scoreline. 

The other two quarterfinal clashes saw seventh seed Leolia Jeanjean of France and unseeded Linda Fruhvirtova of Czech Republic clinch hard-fought three-set victories to enter the semifinal. 

Up against the second-seeded Canadian Rebecca Marino, the temperamental french channeled her anger into a favourable result by securing a come-from-behind 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 win. 

With shrieks and lambasts of frustration from Jeanjean echoing on most points, Marino served for the set at 5-4 after having claimed the first. However, loose serves and unforced errors from the World No. 98's racquet saw Jeanjean win three points in a row to level the proceedings 5-5. 

That perhaps was the turning point before the 29-year-old Jeanjean claimed the second and controlled her game and disposition a tad bit better in the third to walk away the winner. 

Fruhvirtova was tested and challenged but the 19-year-old managed to pull off a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 win over Slovenia's Dalila Jakupovic. 

Results (prefix denotes seeding): Singles (quarterfinals): 8-Sara Bejlek (Cze) bt Sahaja Yamalapalli (Ind) 6-4, 6-4; 1-Tatjana Maria (Ger) bt Lanlana Tararudee (Tha) 6-2, 6-2; 7-Leolia Jeanjean (Fra) bt 2-Rebecca Marino (Can) 3-6, 7-5, 7-5; Linda Fruhvirtova (Cze) bt Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

Doubles (semifinals): 4-Jessie Aney/ Jessica Failla (US) bt Lina Glushko (Isr)/ Anastasia Tikhonova (Rus) 1-6, 6-2, 10-6; 1-Amina Anshba/ Elena Pridankina (Rus) bt Prarthana G Thombare (Ind)/ Alicia Barnett (GBR) 6-3, 6-2.