Radhika Tulpule triumphs

By Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI, MARCH 3. Radhika Tulpule likes to be in charge of situations, instead of waiting for others to do her a favour. On the tennis court, this attitude translates into a pro-active approach to the game.

The seventh seed stuck to her plan, overcoming the handicap of an ankle injury and a hiccup in the second set against second seed Sonal Phadke to win the Indian Oil-Servo International Tennis Federations women's Mumbai leg at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana courts.

The comprehensive 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) victory for the strapping Pune girl fetched her Rs 29,000, runner-up Phadke walked away with a Rs 21,000 cheque. It was Tulpule's third ITF title, her earlier successful efforts coming at Mumbai and Bangalore.

Tulpule stepped on court for the final with a strapped left ankle, an old injury which put a check on her crosscourt movements besides a restriction on her footwork. The handicap did not trouble her in the first set, but cost her points at crucial stages in the second.

The serve was her biggest weapon, following it up deep, penetrative groundstrokes which had every opponent in trouble, even second seed Phadke who possessed the strokes to match. ``She can really hit the ball well, so my plan was to get the first serve in and then work towards taking charge,'' said Tulpule.

She dropped only a single point on serve in the entire first set which lasted just 30 minutes. The breakthrough came in the ninth game when Tulpule managed a break at 5-4 and held serve at love, winning four points in a row to wrap up the set. The second set lasted 56 minutes, featuring a lot of deuces as Phadke raised her game several notches. The two traded breaks in the fourth and fifth games after which the final moved into an exciting phase.

The former started peppering the court with double- handed backhands, catching Tulpule off guard with crosscourt and down the line winners. The seventh seed responded by turning on the full force of her talent, managing drop shots with nonchalant ease in between keeping her rival on tenterhooks with a combination of sliced backhands and power-packed forehands.

Phadke did well to stretch the game into the tie- breaker, getting a break in the 11th game at 6-5 and winning points by making her injured opponent chase down ball hit at the corners, before Tulpule decided it was time to finish off the match instead of taking the risk of surviving a third-setter limping around the court.

``I had a plan, but she served really well. That is what made the difference,'' observed the second seed, admitting that there is little to choose between the two since both are familiar with each others game.

Phadke, a Pune-based girl trains in Mumbai at the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association under former Davis Cupper Sandeep Kirtane, while Tulpule is coached by Nandan Bal, now attached to the national squad, at the Deccan Gymkhana, Pune.

The chief guest at the prize distribution function was Mr. B.K.Das, Executive Director (Sales), Indian Oil Corporation Limited, while Mr. Bharat Oza, joint secretary of the All India Tennis Association was also present, apart from Mr. Sanjeev Khanolkar of the Shivaji Park Gymkhana.

The result: Singles final: 7-Radhika Tulpule bt 2-Sonal Phadke 6- 4, 7-6 (7-5).

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