Rutuja crashes out in semis, Darja in line for golden double at KPB Trust ITF Women’s Open

Bengaluru, Jan 20:  India’s last hope Rutuja Bhosale went down tamely to sixth seed Carole Monnet in the semifinals of the KPB Trust ITF Women’s Open. The 27-year-old lost 2-6, 0-6 to the Frenchwoman in just 63 minutes at the KSLTA Stadium here on Saturday.

Carole will meet the top seed Darja Semenistaja in the title clash to be played on Sunday. The Latvian overcame the challenge of qualifier Naho Sato of Japan 6-4, 6-1 in the other semifinal.

Darja thus placed herself for in line for a golden double after the 21-year-old combined with Italian Camilla Rosatello to overcome the challenge of Yu-Yun Li of Taipei and Eri Shimizu of Japan 3-6, 6-2, 10-8 to wear the women’s doubles crown.

Carole held the upper hand from the word ‘go’ as she broke Rutuja’s serve in the second game to go 2-0 up. The Indian managed to break her rival’s serve in the third game post which both the opponents broke each other’s serve. However, the inconsistent Rutuja lost her serves in the 6^th and 8^th game to hand over the set to the visitor.

In the second set, the 22-year-old Carole did not give a semblance of a chance to an error-prone Rutuja as she blanked the Asian Games gold medallist with breaks in the 2^nd, 4^th and 6^th games to enter the title round.

In the other semifinal, the top seed Darja raced to a 4-0 lead against Naho Sato with breaks in the first and third games. The unseeded Japanese showed signs of recovery as she broke her opponent’s serve in the fifth game and led a superb fightback after being 1-5 down by winning three games on a trot, earning breaks in the 7^th and 9^th games. However, she was unable to hold her serve in the next game, which cost her the set.

The winner of 14 ITF titles, Darja played some powerful shots and dominated almost the entire 31 minutes of the second set where she took a 5-0 lead with two breaks in the 2^nd and 4^th games. The best the petite Japanese could do was to hold her serve in the 6^th game before the south paw closed out the set and match.   

Results (Bracket indicates country, pre-fix indicates seeding)

Singles Semifinals

1-Darja Semenistaja (LAT) bt Q-Naho Sato (JPN) 6-4, 6-1; 6-Carole Monnet (FRA) bt WC-Rutuja Bhosale (IND) 6-2, 6-0;

Doubles Finals

1-Camilla Rosatello (ITA)/Darja Semenistaja (LAT) bt Yu-Yun Li (TPE)/Eri Shimizu (JPN) 3-6, 6-2, 10-8.