By IANS,
New Delhi : Fourth-seeded Indian Isha Lakhani dispatched teenaged Thai Chutharat Rungtein 6-2, 6-1 to enter the second round of the $10,000 women’s International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament at the DLTA stadium here Monday.
The 25-year-old Lakhani, who made it to the semi-finals of the ITF tournament here last week, played with aggression even as her 18-year-old opponent succumbed to a rash of errors.
The left-hander from Mumbai swiftly moved to a 4-2 lead, breaking Rungtein in the sixth game of the match. She took the first set with a second break of Thai’s serve in the eighth game.
The Indian carried the momentum in the second set and led 3-0 before Rungtein held. Lakhani broke her again in the sixth game and then served out the set and the match.
Lakhani next plays compatriot Parul Goswami, who beat qualifier S. Partheepan 6-3, 6-1.
In the other two singles matches, Indian wildcard Sowjanya Bavisetti beat qualifier Aishwarya Agrawal 6-2, 6-3 while wildcard Ankita Raina blanked qualifier Arantxa Andrady 6-0, 6-0.
Bavisetti now meets the winner of the first round match between sixth seed and last year’s finalist Alexandra Kolesnichenko of Uzbekistan and India’s Kumari-Sweta Solanki.
Meanwhile, Raina in the next round can run into top seed and last week’s champion Emily Webley-Smith of England, who plays Indian qualifier Adnya Naik in the first round Tuesday.