Japan's Yurika Sema made a sensational start to her WTA main draw debut as she knocked out fifth seed Yuliana Fedak in the first round of the WTA Bangalore Open at the KSLTA courts on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old qualifier from Tokyo overcame a nervous start to upset Ukraine's Fedak 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
"This was the first time I am playing in a main draw, so I was very happy beating the fifth seed," said a smiling Sema. "I have played in a [US $ 50,000] tournament semi-final before but never a WTA tournament."
Though her English is guarded, the left-hander didn't hold anything back on the bouncy rebound surface. A set down in the first 20 minutes and with nothing to lose, Sema started firing the ball down the alleys. Fedak, who served three aces in the opening set and had an easy ride through it, was caught off by her opponents tenacity.
"In the first set I was very nervous. But after that I tried to rally more and got better," said Sema, playing her third tournament in India.
After breaking Fedak twice in the second set, Sema won it 6-3 to level the match and raced off to a 4-0 lead in the decider.
With victory in sight, the nerves she had abandoned for a set and a half were back. Both girls had started to tire out and indulged in some moonballing. Even with an easy approach shot in sight, the players preferred staying back and looping the ball back.
Sema could not convert a match point at 5-1 on Fedak's serve and went on to drop her serve in the next game, giving the Ukrainian hope of a comeback. Serving for the match again at 5-4, the Japanese was again 15-40 down. Two forehand winners from her racquet saved the break points and Sema served well to close out the match finally at 6-4.
US-based Tara Iyer will open India's campaign on Tuesday afternoon. The 18-year-old wildcard will take on Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in the first match of the evening session, which will be followed by a contest between Indian Fed Cup player Shikha Uberoi and Russia's Yaroslava Shvedova.
Sania will then team up with Mara Santangelo in the first round doubles match against Akgul Amanmuradova and Tatiana Poutchek. The Indian ace will play her opening singles against Martina Sucha on Wednesday.
Other Results:
Tamarine Tanasugarn beat Chin-Wei Chan 6-3, 6-3
Olga Savchuk beat Maroya Koryttseva 6-4, 6-3
Tzipora Obziler bt Alla Kudryavtseva 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Yulia Beygelzimer bt Nudnina Luangnam 6-2, 6-1
Su-Wei Hsiesh bt Sandra Kloesel 6-2, 6-4
