Pune: Tatiana Prozorova outslugged Leolia Jeanjean in two hours and 38 minutes in the last year’s final. On Friday, the Russian needed an hour and 36 to once again turn the tables on the Frenchwoman, this time in the semifinal, at the $60,000 ITF Women’s tennis event at Deccan Gymkhana.“Today’s match was incredible. It was very tough because it was up and down, up and down, like usual women’s tennis. Nothing special, unfortunately,” the 22-year-old sixth seed laughed after her 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 win.In the summit clash, the World No. 197 will take on Belgian second seed Hanne Vandewinkel, who advanced after a 6-1, 6-4 win over Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew.When Prozorova clashed with Jeanjean a little over 12 months ago on these courts, it turned out to be a battle of attrition. She came into the tournament having won a $50K event in Delhi a fortnight earlier but was drained by a bout of throat of infection at the start of the week. Jeanjean, on the other hand, had finished runner-up in an $100K event a week previously in Bangalore and was the favourite going into the final. The Montpellier native was serving for the title at 5-4 in the second set when she crumbled under pressure.“I just did a great comeback,” Prozorova recalled.She tackled Jeanjean, world ranked 117, much better this time.“Well, nothing special, but we saw some problems of Leolia, and we also had a plan for today. And we had a plan B, if the first one (does) not work, but the first one worked,” she quipped.Prozorova had lost to Mananchaya, the eventual champion, in the quarterfinals in Mumbai last week. But the comparatively faster courts in Pune suited her better, she said.“I just try to be ready for everything that I can meet here. The most important here is surface. It’s not very slow. It’s a little fast for me, it’s very comfortable.”For Vandewinkel, an upcoming talent coached by former world no. 13 Kirsten Flipkens, the challenge was different. It was the reverse of what an Asian player would encounter while competing in Europe.“I think for me, they (Asians) are tough opponents, because they don’t really give a lot of free points, and they don’t do any stupid decisions,” the 21-year-old from Bree said after seeing off Mananchaya said. “Some European players, they can really go for it every shot. They can hit two winners, but then, you know that they will also make four mistakes the next game. With the Asian players, they’re not gonna hit a lot of winners, but they’re also not gonna make a lot of mistakes. “I think that’s for me a bit more difficult, because my game style is a bit more based on making the other player play bad and making her do mistakes. So I think that’s for me sometimes a challenge. But over the last few days, I managed quite well.”Mananchaya, 23, is as crafty as they come but the seventh seed was visibly exhausted. Yet, Vandewinkel, world ranked 135, still had to be on top of her game. “She won last week, so I knew where I had to be in, play my best tennis,” the Belgian said. “From the start I saw she was maybe not 100% … physically and mentally. So I tried to use that in my advantage of it. And (it is) still dangerous to play someone who is not feeling 100% because it is tough to keep focused. Sometimes they play so free and loose, so I had to be careful for this, but I’m happy with the way I manage it.”Shrivalli-Ankita duo in final In the doubles event, Ankita Raina and Shrivalli Rashmikaa moved into the final with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Polina Bakhmutkina of Belgium and Maria Golovina of Russia.The Indian pair will take on Japan’s Misaki Matsuda and Eri Shimizu, who beat American Hibah Shaikh and Romania’s Arina Gabriela Vasilescu 6-3, 6-3, for the title.
