National champion Shrivalli Bhamidipaty asserted her growing confidence as she overcame a tricky start to beat Punnin Kovapitukted of Thailand 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the $15,000 ITF women’s tennis quarterfinals at the Ace Academy on Friday.
It was a first victory in five meetings over the Thai for Shrivalli, who will challenge top seed Zeel Desai in the semifinals.
Shrivalli converted six out of eight breakpoints, after she dropped serve in the 10th game in losing the first set. She wound up the second and third sets in whirlwind fashion — winning five games in a row to seal the second, when she allowed only seven points to her opponent. She won the last three games from 3-1 in the decider by conceding a mere three points to Punnin, who won the title last week in Gurugram.
Akanksha NItture sustained her good run and will play Emily Seibold of Germany in the other semifinal.
The results: Quarterfinals: Zeel Desai bt Shreya Tatavarthy 6-2, 6-4; Shrivalli Bhamidipaty bt Punnin Kovapitukted (Tha) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; Emily Seibold (Ger) bt Vaidehi Chaudhari 7-5, 6-0; Akanksha Nitture bt Yubarani Banerjee 7-5, 6-4.
Doubles: Semifinals: Sharmada Balu & Sravya Shivani bt Seibold & Sathwika Sama 6-3, 6-3; Kovapitukted & Anna Ureke (Rus) bt Smriti Bhasin & Sahaja Yamalapalli 6-1, 6-3.
