By Saumojyoti Singha Choudhury, IANS
Bangalore : Sixth seed Sybille Bammer of Austria toiled for over two hours to defeat unseeded Japanese girl Akiko Morigami 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the opening round of the $600,000 Bangalore Open that started here at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association Monday.
Bammer, ranked 20th in the world, was no match for Morigami in the opening set, courtesy a poor first serve percentage.
However, Bammer, who is one of the very few mothers on the tour, came back strongly in the second set breaking Morigami’s serve first in the third game and then in the eighth game to square the tie 1-1.
The Austrian seized the initiative early in the third set with two back-to-back breaks in the third and fifth games.
However, Morigami made a last ditch effort breaking Bammer in the eighth game, but the sixth seed broke the unseeded Japanese again in the 11th game and served out to make the second round.
“It was a difficult match to start with. Morigami is a very good player, so I expected a tough match. Initially, my approach was not right. I hardly got any time to practice here as I arrived just two days back,” Bammer told reporters after the match.
“I am not playing good tennis. After losing the first set, I was just trying to keep the ball on court,” he added.
Asked about a possible encounter with Serena Williams in the third round, she said: “Right now my focus is on the next match.”
Meanwhile, Indian girls had a disappointing tournament, the biggest in South-East Asia, as US-based Indian Sunitha Rao and Bhambri sisters Ankita and Sanaa lost in the qualifiers.
Sunitha, ranked 181, failed to make it to the main draw, losing in straight sets 2-6, 1-6 to Tiantian Sun of China, while Ankita and Sanaa squandered a set lead to bow out in the first round of the 4-6, 6-4, 10-4 in the super tie-breaker.
In a doubles fist round, third-seeded Chinese pair, Shuai Peng and Tiantian Sun, defeated unseeded Russians Vesna Manasieva and Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-4.