Third seed Karman Kaur Thandi defeated fourth ranked Yuliia Starodubteva of Ukraine 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in the final of the $60,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at Evansville, USA.
It is the second title at this level for the 25-year-old Karman, following the one at Saguenay, Canada, last October. It was the fourth singles crown of Karman’s career. She had won two last season, including the only one at home, in Gurugram.
In a hard-fought battle that lasted two hours and 45 minutes, Karman asserted her strong game in the decider when she dropped a mere 11 points to her 23-year-old opponent. She converted five of the 11 break points in the match to pull through. She had not dropped a set in the earlier four rounds.
Starodubtseva had beaten Karman in the final of a similar tournament last month in three sets at Sumter (USA).
The title helped Karman jump 51 places in the ranking list to 210. She is the second best Indian after Ankita Raina (200).
“After two runner-up finishes, this victory comes at a good time to boost Karman’s confidence as she prepares for the US Open,“ said long-time coach and Director of the RoundGlass Academy, Aditya Sachdeva, from Chandigarh.
