No French luck for Indians, moving on to grass now

No luck at the 2008 French Open for India. Even Mahesh Bhupathi, the only player from the country to survive the first week, was forced to concede his mixed doubles semifinal after injuring his calf muscle.

Will this affect his chances at events in the run-up to Wimbledon?

"Hopefully not" was all that the doubles specialist told The Indian Tennis Blog.

Bhupathi, who turned 34 on Saturday, is partnering Rohan Bopanna at the Artois Championship in London this week.

Arch rival Leander Paes (that's still how the media describes the split halves of the Indian Express) continues his not-so-old partnership with Czech player Lukas Dlouhy at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.

Playing together for the first time, the duo put up a decent show at Roland Garros, losing to eventual champions Horna and Cuevas in the pre-quarterfinals.

Even tennis prodigy Yuki Bhambri stumbled in his opening encounter of the boys' singles. Was India's next tennis hope, so impressive in his run to the semifinals of the Australian Open in January, a no-show on clay courts?

The 15-year-old didn't think so and that's what he told the Indian Tennis Blog after his early ouster.

"I'm fit and fine. I think it was just lack of match practice cause I don't feel that there is anything wrong with my game right now but unfortunately I also ran into some very good clay court players. I played before in Europe on numerous occasions and I can definitely play on clay."

This week's tennis spotlight will be on Sania Mirza when she makes her long-awaited comeback after wrist surgery at the DFS Classic in Birmingham.

Sunitha Rao made it a double delight with a superb show in the qualifying rounds and a hard-fought main draw victory to join Mirza in the second round. The Indian number one enjoyed a bye in her first match.

Away from the media glare, Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna clashed in the final qualifier round at Surbiton. Bopanna emerged the winner - a sign that perhaps he is once again ready to don the mantle of being India's best men's player, an honour he lost to Amritraj earlier this year.

Harsh Mankad had another disappointment at the Yuba City Challenger, though his 0-6,1-6 loss in the opening round was at least understandable since he was playing the second seed. Also down on his luck is Stephen Amritraj, the lesser known of the two Amritraj cousins, who has been struggling with his doubles game for some time now.

Back problems are also becoming Karan Rastogi's bane and the 21-year-old might find it a challenge just to keep fit.

"I am scheduled to play in Iran in a couple of weeks. But will go only if I am a 100% fit," Rastogi told the Indian Tennis Blog.

On the domestic front, most of the country's second-rung women players are battling it out at a $10,000 tournament in Gurgaon this week.

ATP RANKINGS (9 June 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
282 (-22) Amritraj, Prakash
293 (+17) Bopanna, Rohan
468 (-18) Sipaeya, Sunil Kumar
481 (-22) Rastogi, Karan
540 (-4) Singh, Ashutosh

DOUBLES
13 (-4) Bhupathi, Mahesh
23 (+1) Paes, Leander
52 (-1) Bopanna, Rohan

WTA RANKINGS (9 June 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
33 (-1) Mirza, Sania
160 (-5) Rao, Sunitha
310 (-4) Lakhani, Isha
441 (+5) Iyer, Tara
502 (-3) Bhambri, Ankita

DOUBLES
20 (0) Mirza, Sania
120 (-9) Rao, Sunitha
326 (-4) Iyer, Tara

Isha Lakhani enters Top 300, Sunitha Rao wins at Zagreb

May 5 - May 11: Isha Lakhani wins Kerala Open, Sunitha Rao picks up doubles title at Zagreb, Paes' doubles partnership with Hanley on a break

ISHA LAKHANI

Isha Lakhani entered the Top 300 in the WTA rankings this week thanks to her runner-spot in the $25,000 Balikpapan (Indonesia) event two weeks ago and looks set to rise further after winning the Kerala Open title on Saturday. A Top 200 spot by the end of 2008 no longer seems a distant dream.

"Hitting the top 200 is achievable, it's tough but I have got to get tougher," the 23-year-old told the Indian Tennis Blog. "My temperament has improved a lot which has helped me perform, but there's always room for improvement."

$10,000 BSNL KERALA OPEN 2008, Thiruvananthapuram
(5 - 11 May 2008)
CLAY COURT
Women's Singles Final
(WC)(1)Isha Lakhani beat (6)Miki Miyamura(JPN) 6-7(2),6-2,6-4

A lack of financial backing may hinder her plan of participating in higher-level tournaments but for now Lakhani is looking forward to playing $25,000 events in Turkey and China next month.

SUNITHA RAO

The Florida-based Sunitha Rao jumped 17 places to a career-high 110 in the women's doubles rankings this week after partnering Melinda Czink of Hungary to win the title at the $75,000 tournament in Zagreb.

The second seeds did not lose a set all week.

$75,000 ZAGREB, Croatia
(5 - 11 May 2008)
CLAY COURT
Women's Doubles Final
(2)Sunitha Rao/Melinda Czink(HUN) beat (1)Stephanie Foretz(FRA)/Jelena Kostanic Tosic(CRO) 6-4,6-2

MAHESH BHUPATHI and LEANDER PAES

The ATP Masters at Rome didn't prove lucky for Indians with both Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes crashing out in their opening encounters. Despite the loss, Bhupathi returned to the ATP Top 10 this week -- moving one spot up from 11 while Paes slipped one place to number 25.

Bhupathi and partner Knowles have slipped to number 3 in the ATP Doubles Race with the Bryan brothers claiming the top spot after winning at Rome.

And Paes seems to be on a break from regular partner Paul Hanley after a string of inexplicable first round losses this season. The Kolkatan has teamed up with Spaniard Tommy Robredo for the Hamburg Masters while Hanley tries his luck partnering Wesley Moodie.

ATP ROME MASTERS
(5 - 11 May 2008)
CLAY COURT
Men's Doubles Round 2
(4)Mahesh Bhupathi/Mark Knowles(BAH) lost to Fernando Verdasco(SPN)/Feliciano Lopez(SPN) 7-6(4),4-6,7-10
(8)Leander Paes/Paul Hanley(AUS) lost to Mariusz Fyrstenberg(POL)/Marcin Matkowski(POL) 6-4,3-6,6-10

MEN'S TENNIS

All eyes are on the $50,000 SAIL Open challenger in New Delhi this week. Rohan Bopanna has withdrawn with a bad knee while wildcard Yuki Bhambri lost his opening match. But Prakash Amritraj, Harsh Mankad, Ashutosh Singh and Mustafa Ghouse are still in the fray.

Navdeep Singh, Rohan Gajjar and Purav Raja couldn't work wonders at the Great Britain Futures at Bournemouth and Edinburgh. The trio will be trying their luck in the doubles draw in New Delhi.

WOMEN'S TENNIS

The Bhambri sisters - Ankita and Sanaa - lead a contingent of Indians at a $10,000 event in Bangkok this week.

Youngster Shalini Sahoo's semifinal spot at the $10,000 Kochi event two weeks ago saw her enter the Top 1000 in the WTA rankings on Monday. The 18-year-old is ranked 944, a climb of 120 spots since last week.

JUNIOR TENNIS

Disappointing result for India with our girls finishing eighth in the Asia-Oceania Junior Fed Cup girls under-16 tennis tournament in Bangkok.

ATP RANKINGS (12 May 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
249 (-3) Amritraj, Prakash
306 (-3) Bopanna, Rohan
428 (-8) Sipaeya, Sunil Kumar
443 (0) Rastogi, Karan
605 (-3) Singh, Ashutosh

DOUBLES
10 (+1) Bhupathi, Mahesh
25 (-1) Paes, Leander
51 (0) Bopanna, Rohan

WTA RANKINGS
(12 May 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
33 (0) Mirza, Sania
158 (-1) Rao, Sunitha
295 (+50) Lakhani, Isha
379 (+2) Iyer, Tara
499 (+19) Chakravarthi, Rushmi

DOUBLES
19 (0) Mirza, Sania
110 (+17) Rao, Sunitha
318 (-2) Iyer, Tara

INTERVIEW - Sunitha Rao's coach Bill Eastburn

It's the premier tennis event in India and yet no Indian player progressed to the second round of the WTA Bangalore Open 2008. Sania Mirza opted out while wildcards Isha Lakhani and Shikha Uberoi were no match for their opponents.

But why was 22-year-old Sunitha Rao, India's no. 2 player, denied a chance to shine in the main draw of the event? Why were the wildcards handed to players ranked below her? Although Rao eventually faltered in the final round of qualifying; some would argue her game was affected by needless controversy.

In a free-wheeling interview, Rao's coach Bill Eastburn told the Indian Tennis Blog what he thought of the situation. (Please note that the views expressed in the interview are his own and not necessarily those expressed by Sunitha Rao)

How long have you coached Sunitha Rao?
I have been the full-time private coach for Sunitha since September 2003. I have travelled with her to just about every one of her professional events since this time, travelling with another one of my players as well. We live and train in Sarasota(Florida), returning there between events and typically spend our off season in Perth(Australia).

Despite being India's no. 2 player and a part of the Fed Cup team, Sunitha was not given a wildcard for the Bangalore Open. Why do you think she is being treated this way?
This is the one question I have been waiting for. Everyone involved with this tournament, as well as the so-called officials of Indian tennis are passing the buck here. No one wants to step up and be the one to say "it was my/our decision". Reason being, in my opinion, is because they simply know that it was wrong, unfair and unjust.

No matter how you approach this, there is simply no way that a country's number two ranked player should not get a wildcard into an event on her home soil. It's on the border of being criminal if you ask me. They are taking money out of her pocket and taking an opportunity away from her that she deserves - that she has earned.

At the time the decision for the maindraw wildcards was announced, Sunitha was 168 ranking spots above Lakhani and 643 ranking spots above Uberoi - are you kidding me? No disrepect at all intended towards these young ladies but as of today, Sunitha is 808 ranking spots above Uberoi! And let's get the facts straight, there are 3 wildcards available here. One is for WTA Gold/Silver Exempt, leaving two for the discretion of the tournament.

Are you going to tell me that they can confidently say that they made a fair and honest decision? No way. The Bangalore Open Tournament Director, Sunder Raju and the Tournament Manager, Sunil Yajaman, along with the AITA and whoever else was involved in this grotesquely dishonest decision should be ashamed to put it mildly. At least they should be man enough to step up and take responsibility and not push the blame back and forth between the other. I hope you print every word of this. What they did to Sunitha is deplorable.

Does the problem also stem from Sunitha being a U.S. citizen till last year?
I don't think you understand. Sunitha Rao is still a U.S. citizen. Sunitha has been cleared by the ITF to represent India in international play such as Fed Cup and the Olympics. She plays for and represents the country of her heritage, where she was born and spent some of her childhood. Her plan was to relocate and set up a training base in Bangalore to start the 2008 competitive year.

Due to not receiving some funding that she was promised, along with far too many question marks about how she would be received by the AITA, among others, we decided to wait until we find her a new financial sponsor. Decisions like not to give her a maindraw wildcard in the Bangalore Open this year support our decision to hold off on her relocating.

How does the number two ranked professional tennis player, male or female, from a country the size of India with an equity market that doubled in 2007, not financially back this promising young athlete. But that's another story - don't get me started.

Will this affect Sunitha financially? Doesn't her family support her in any way?
An answer to the first question - absolutely yes. This grotesquely unfair decision not to grant Sunitha the maindraw wildcard she deserves will and already has cost her. Hypothetically, if Sunitha were to have lost in the first round of qualifying, she would have earned $640. That would not have even covered one half of her round trip airline ticket.

Where as if she would have recieved a maindraw wildcard that she readily deserved, she would have earned a minimum of $4175, with the opportunity to earn significantly more.

Fortunately, however, despite the circumstances, while all other Indian players lost in the first round, Sunitha advanced to the third and final qualifying round. And, fortunately, she is in the maindraw of the doubles event based on her own very respectable doubles ranking of 121. That will give her the opportunity to make a little more. (Note: Rao later lost in the first round of doubles)

No, Sunitha does not receive one penny of financial support from her family and hasn't for almost two years now. It's a personal issue for her and I am not at liberty to go into detail. We will leave that alone for now please.

Do you plan to take up the issue with Indian tennis authorities or the WTA?
The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour does not have anything to do with Sunitha not getting a maindraw wildcard. They are removed from this situation and have no control over who the tournament grants these to. As far as taking it up with "Indian tennis authorities", the answer is yes. My email box is overflowing with requests for interviews from the largest newspapers in India. I am delaying this interview until after the qualifying. Trust me when I tell you that nothing will be held back. It's criminal what happened here.

How do you view Sunitha's game? Is her best yet to come?
When I began with Sunitha, she was one of the top 5 juniors in the world, actually seeded number one at Junior Wimbledon in 2003. She was an amazing competitor with a one dimensional game and limited athletic prowess. Almost four and a half years later, we have moulded her into an exceptionally strong and powerful athlete for her size.

She is a pretty strong mover, has developed exceptional balance and coordination and has come a long way in terms of controlling her body the way a top athlete needs to. Her game has grown in every facet. She now has variety with her ground strokes, able to hit with much more spin, as well as varying her targets and utlilizing more angles in her game.

Her transition and net play stand out among female players in her ranking area. She is exceptional in transition, moving forward to the net, sneaking in and taking balls in the air. She has great court awareness in the middle zone of the court where most girls are lost. Because of this, she is a solid doubles player, playing more of a classic doubles style of play, more in transition and coming forward than just staying back and pounding away from the back court.

Her forehand has come a long way. While her backhand has always been "money", her forehand is now much more in line with her backhand, thus eliminating a considerably "weaker" side. So, overall, Sunitha has developed her game consistently year after year, making improvements in every area we have addressed from strength/fitness and movement to technical and tactical issues.

Unfortunately, there has been a lot going on in her young life off the court that has affected her competitively, making it very difficult for her to compete consistently. However, I believe we are past that now, she is settling down, quieting the noise in her head and slowly starting to get back to her old competitive ways. The ways that made her one of the top juniors in the world for years.

And yes, her best is definitely yet to come. Outsiders don't understand. Every player follows a different time line. These girls develop their games, their minds, the bodies at different rates. Some players for instance, like Jill Craybas and Akiko Morigami didn't break into the top 100 and then top 50 until they were 24 years old or older. They grew into their games, gaining experience along the way and finally making their breakthrough.

Some girls, like Julie Ditty, Mashona Washington and Tzipora Obziler didn't make breakthroughs until much, much later. The issue has been that the young teen superstars disrupt the averages and grab the spotlight so the layperson thinks that you have to be a teenager to be a superstar.

I believe Sunitha is still a couple of years away from really hitting her stride. She is obsessed with fitness and conditioning, eats properly and is extremely disciplined with her training and taking care of her body. This greatly increases the career longevity for these girls. Sunitha is doing all of this. The big thing for her, however, is that she has some emotional issues to put behind her, some things that are not easy to move past. "Anchors" if you will. When she sheds these anchors I believe we will see her hit her stride - in full.

[An email sent to tournament director Sunder Raju to get his version of the issue was not answered - although he was later quoted by the DNA newspaper as saying that the wildcards were given based on the All India Tennis Association's (AITA) recommendation.

The same article quoted AITA Secretary-General Anil Khanna as saying that Rao "had got a wild card for the Sunfeast Open (at Kolkata in 2007). We are just trying to be fair to all the players."]

Harsh Mankad returns, Ashutosh Singh proves his mettle

Pakistan may be in the headlines for the wrong reasons but India's National Champion Ashutosh Singh made sure it wasn't all bad news by reaching the final of the ITF Pakistan F3 Futures in Lahore.

Singh lost a tight match 3-6,6-3,7-6(6) to top-seeded Czech Adam Vejmelka in the final but the 25-year-old Indian shouldn't be too disappointed by his performance against a player ranked 240 places above him on the ATP list.

Partnering Vivek Shokeen, Singh had earlier grabbed the doubles title beating Vejmelka and his Romanian partner Bogdan-Victor Leonte 6-1,6-4.

The 575-ranked Singh also leads the Indian contingent for a bilateral tennis series against Pakistan starting in Lahore on Tuesday.

Doubles was the key for India in women's tennis this week with both Sunitha Rao and Prerana Appineni reaching the doubles semifinals at separate ITF events. Second seeds Rao and American Jill Craybas bowed out to an American pair at ITF Pittsburgh while Appineni and American Beatrice Capra lost a thrilling super-tiebreaker in the ITF Lima (Peru) semifinals.

But the big news for India is the return of Harsh Mankad after a year-long break from the tennis court thanks to knee injuries. Currently ranked 1456, Mankad is playing the qualifiers at the ATP Challenger in Champaign, USA.

Mankad turned 28 on Saturday and the Mumbai resident knows only too well how hard it will be for him to crack the ATP Top 200. His career best singles ranking of 222 was a milestone achieved two years ago.

Also playing next week is Indian number one Rohan Bopanna. The 261-ranked Bopanna has the unenviable challenge of playing 75-ranked German Benjamin Becker in the first round of the ATP Challenger in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.

At least doubles specialist Leander Paes has better odds despite a spate of opening round defeats recently. Fourth seeds Paes and Czech partner Martin Damm will fancy their chances at the Shanghai Masters Cup when they take on defending champions Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi on Sunday.

In women's tennis, India's number two Sunitha Rao will try her luck at the ITF $50,000 La Quinta, US tournament while Tara Iyer will lead a phalanx of fellow Indians at the $25,000 ITF Pune tournament. Both events kick off on Monday.

Can Paes and Damm win the Tennis Masters Cup?
	Yes - these defeats will make them hungry for victory
	No - they have lost their magic
	Depends on luck
pollcode.com free polls

Stephen Amritraj, Ashutosh Singh shine this week

The big names of Indian tennis couldn't weave much magic in tournaments this week, leaving little known players Stephen Amritraj and Ashutosh Singh to impress with breakthrough performances.

Amritraj, who grew up in the Californian city of Calabasas, partnered American Adam Davidson to reach the doubles semifinal at the ATP Calabasas Challenger.

The duo, who gained entry as lucky losers because of an injury default to Jan-Michael Gambill, stunned top seeds Bobby Reynolds and Rajeev Ram 6-3,6-4 in the opening round.

Amritraj, 23, and Davidson eventually lost 5-7,2-6 to fourth seeds Robert Kendrick(US) and Cecil Mamiit(PHI) in the semifinal.

Stephen, son of former tennis player Anand Amritraj, had partnered cousin Prakash to reach the semifinals of the Fergana Challenger earlier this year.

Back home in India, newly crowned National hard court champion Ashutosh Singh spearheaded the country's challenge at the India F9 Futures in Bellary, Karnataka.

Singh's splendid run in the singles event, which began with ousting top seed Pavol Cervenak of Slovakia 6-3,6-4 in the opening round, came to an end in the semifinals.

Singh, ranked 659 on the ATP list, lost to third seeded Austrian Rainer Eitzinger 4-6,3-6.

But he gained revenge by partnering Vivek Shokeen (in pic) to beat Eitzinger and Philipp Oswald 7-6(4),3-6,10-5 in the doubles final.

Wildcard Rupesh Roy, who lost in the quarterfinals to Singh, also impressed with a second round win over Romania's Adrian Gavrila.

Elsewhere in Europe, Sania Mirza lost in her Zurich Open opener before retiring for the season while Leander Paes and Martin Damm lost in the second round of the Madrid Masters doubles.

Sunitha Rao, who reached the finals at the ITF San Francisco Tennis Classic last week, withdrew from the ITF Lawrenceville Challenger at the last minute.

Down under in Gympie(Australia), Tara Iyer couldn't do much against fourth seeded home favourite Monique Adamczak and lost 1-6,6-7(5) in the first round.

Partnering Nungnudda Wannasuk of Thailand, Iyer also lost to Adamczak and Briton Jade Curtis 7-6(2),6-7(3),5-10 in the doubles quarterfinal.

Sunitha Rao falls at final hurdle in San Francisco

A brilliant run in the $50,000 ITF San Francisco Tennis Classic ended with defeat in the final for India's Sunitha Rao. The eighth seed couldn't keep the magic going against top seeded American Ashley Harkleroad and went down tamely 6-1, 6-2.

The loss was a disappointing one for Rao but it was still her best result for 2007 - gaining her $3,990 in prizemoney and 25 valuable WTA points. Her latest ranking shot ten places up to 175 and Rao is now within striking distance of her career-best ranking of 152 (achieved in July 2003).

The Florida-based player had started the year ranked 232 and had dipped as low as 278 in June before jumping 100 places in just four months. Rao had also been the losing finalist in a $25,000 ITF event at Tampa in July.

The San Francisco result had not been an unexpected one. Harkleroad, although now ranked just 92, is a former Top 40 player and not one to be taken lightly. Interestingly, Rao had won their previous encounter in the 2003 Australian Open qualifiers, albeit in three sets.

Rao, who will celebrate her 22nd birthday on October 27, also had luck on her side - she didn't face anybody ranked higher than her in the four matches till the final.

In the latest WTA rankings (October 15), Rao led an army of Indian women moving up the list. Tara Iyer moved one place up to 358, Rushmi Chakravarthi gained two places to be ranked 368 and Isha Lakhani moved up three spots to 432.

But Indian number one Sania Mirza dropped one spot to 30, thanks to a first round exit at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

In the doubles, Mirza moved up one spot to 19, while Rao lost three places to be placed 141. The biggest loser of the week was Shikha Uberoi - who slid 43 places to 209.

Rohan Bopanna, the best Indian player in the men's singles, was down nine places (260) while Prakash Amritraj slid two spots (270). The big gainer - no. 343 Karan Rastogi who moved up four places.

In the doubles rankings, Bopanna's semifinal run at ATP Stockholm saw him jump seven places to 79 while Leander Paes(17) and Mahesh Bhupathi(21) retained their spots on the list.

Middle-level Indian players have a chance to earn valuable points at the men's $15,000 India F9 Futures event at Bellary, Karnataka which kicked off on Monday.

Can Sunitha Rao ever match Sania Mirza's achievements?
	Yes - the way she's playing, anything is possible
	No - Rao doesn't have what it takes
	Can't say - we'll have to watch her in 2008
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Paes, Bopanna and Sunitha Rao impress this week

It's been a reasonably good week for Indian tennis but not for Sania Mirza. India's number one singles player floundered in the opening round of the Kremlin Cup - falling to nemesis Gisela Dulko in her third straight carrer defeat to the Argentine.

Her luck in the doubles was only marginally better. Partnering Switzerland's Patty Schnyder, Mirza was ousted by the world's best doubles pair - Cara Black and Liezel Huber - in the quarterfinals.

Be that as it may, ATP Tour veteran Justin Gimelstob had this to say about the 20-year-old in his SI.com column this week.

"Mirza has ignited a continent with her success. She is a cult figure in her native India, and can't walk down the street without a full security detail. She possesses one of the biggest forehands in the game, and is attractive and charming. She's also integral to growing the game in the Far East."

As such the flag for Indian tennis was held high by Leander Paes. Just weeks before he ends his partnership with Martin Damm, the dynamic duo reached the semifinals of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy tournament in Vienna.

Paes and Damm even had two matchpoints before the fourth seeded Polish pair of Marciusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski advanced to the final with a 2-6, 7-5, 12-10 win.

Paes would be partnering Paul Hanley of Australia in 2008 and his reasons for splitting with Damm are purely professional.

"We have different goals next year...Martin wants to cut down on his tennis, while I want to play a full year, so we decided to get new partners," Paes told The Telegraph from Vienna.

Also impressive this week was Rohan Bopanna whose semifinal appearance with Belgium's Olivier Rochus at the ATP Stockholm Open is further proof he's going to make it big in doubles. His stint as lucky loser in the singles draw had ended after he squandered a 4-1 lead to lose in straight sets to Spain's Albert Montanes in the first round. But Bopanna made good in the doubles with a win over South Africa's Jeff Coetzee and Dutchman Rogier Wassen.

It was only in the semis that second seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi got the better of the Indo-Belgian pair in straight sets - 6-3, 7-5.

On the ITF circuit, Sunitha Rao has made the quarterfinals of the $50,000 San Francisco event. Her match against Indonesia's Romana Tedjakusuma wasn't over when this report was filed but there's a good chance the eighth seed will get through easily to the semis. Rao had routed Tedjakusuma in straight sets at a $25,000 tournament in Tampa, USA earlier this year.

Top seeds Rao and American Julie Ditty stumbled in their doubles opener - falling to an unseeded pair from South Africa.

Down Under in Rockhamption, eighth seed Tara Iyer made it to the second round before qualifier Robin Stephenson proved too strong for the Indian on the Australian hardcourts.

In domestic action, Bellary in Karnataka will play host to the $15,000 India F9 Futures event next week with most of India's top singles players in attendance.

Ashutosh wins title, no such luck for Sunitha Rao

Newly crowned DSCL Open National Champion Ashutosh Singh and runner-up Prajnesh Gunneswaran have been granted wildcards for the main draw of Challenger tournaments to be held in Delhi from next month.

Second seed Singh had beaten the 17-year-old Gunneswaran 6-4, 7-6(4) in the Nationals final in New Delhi on Friday.

Gunneswaran didn't go home empty-handed though. The giant-killer beat Vijayant Malik 6-3, 6-2 in the boys singles final.

In the women's event, title favourite Isha Lakhani swept past second seed Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-4, 6-1 to win her third straight Nationals.

DSCL OPEN NATIONALS - FINALS

MEN

(2) Ashutosh Singh beat Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-4,7-6(4)

WOMEN

(1) Isha Lakhani beat (2) Rushmi Chakravarthi 6-3,6-1

UNDER 18 BOYS

(2) Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat (1) Vijayant Malik 6-3,6-2

Meanwhile, there was bad news in store for fans of Sunitha Rao. The Florida-based player was ousted in the second round of the USTA Tennis Classic at Troy, Alabama by her 296-ranked nemesis Alexa Glatch.

The 18-year-old American carved out a hardfought 7-6(4),7-6(3) victory over seventh-seeded Rao. It was Glatch's third straight win over Rao, having also beaten her in 2004 and in the final of the $25,000 Southlake, Texas tournament in July this year.

In the doubles quarterfinals, Rao and her Australian partner Christina Wheeler(AUS) lost 6-4,6-7(4),8-10 to the American pair of Angela Haynes and Mashona Washington.

Sunitha Rao back to business at Troy

Back on US soil after an unsuccessful stint at Kolkata's Sunfeast Open, Sunitha Rao easily advanced to the second round of the USTA Tennis Classic at Troy, Alabama beating 215-ranked German Carmen Klaschka 6-0, 7-6(1).

After blazing through the first set, the 195-ranked Rao faced tough resistance from the 20-year-old Klaschka in the second.

But it was Rao, India's number two tennis player after Sania Mirza, who prevailed in the tiebreaker.

The Florida-based player, seeded seventh here, will now face American Alexa Glatch for a place in the quarterfinals of the $50,000 ITF event.

Although ranked only 296, the 18-year-old Glatch leads Rao 2-0 in career meetings, having beaten her in 2004 and in the final of the $25,000 Southlake, Texas tournament in July this year.

Rao had bowed out of last month's Sunfeast Open in the second round with a 3-6, 2-6 loss to Britain's Anne Keothavong.

No Sunfeast for India at WTA Kolkata

The Indian campaign at Kolkata's Sunfeast Open has come to an end with Sunitha Rao losing in the doubles semi-finals.

Rao and her Australian partner Monique Adamczak went down fighting 4-6, 7-5, 5-10 to Alberta Brianti of Italy and Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine.

The 1 hour 38 minute match at the Netaji Indoor stadium went the distance but it was Brianti and Koryttseva who eventually prevailed in the tiebreak.

The $175,000 hardcourt tournament has been severely affected by the last minute withdrawal of India's highest-ranked tennis player Sania Mirza. Mirza, who is nursing a wrist injury, had won the doubles event last year in partnership with Liezel Huber.

Rao and Adamczak have assured themselves of at least $2140 in prize money by reaching the semifinals. In addition, Rao gets $2105 and 20 WTA points for reaching the second round of the singles competition.

In the first round, the duo defeated Indian American Neha Uberoi and Poland's Marta Domachowska 6-1, 6-4. They later had the benefit of a walkover over fourth seeded Italians Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta after Errani backed out complaining of lower back pain.

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Tara Iyer crashes out of Sunfeast Open

Black day for Sunitha Rao at Sunfeast Open

Dressed all in black, Britain's Anne Keothavong spelt doom for Indian hopes at the Sunfeast Open - defeating Sunitha Rao in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.

The second round match was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests and Rao, India's highest-ranked tennis player after Sania Mirza, played her best against the 144-ranked Keothavong.

Rao, 211 on the WTA list, managed to break the Briton's serve twice. She even had a better first-serve percentage and less doublefaults. But it was Keothavong who prevailed in the 80-minute battle at Kolkata's Netaji Indoor stadium.

Keothavong sent down 7 aces compared to zero for Rao and was the stronger player on crucial points. A string of unforced errors didn't help Rao much - she mishit at least two easy lobs during the match.

The result catapulted Keothavong into the record books as the first British woman to advance to a WTA Tour quarterfinal in 14 years.

But there is still hope for India in the doubles competition of the $175,000 hardcourt tournament.

Rao and Australia's Monique Adamczak have assured themselves of at least $2140 in prize money after securing a semifinal berth.

In the first round, the duo defeated Indian American Neha Uberoi and Poland's Marta Domachowska 6-1, 6-4 and later had the benefit of a walkover over fourth seeded Italians Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta. Errani had withdrawn after complaining of lower back pain.

Top seeds Vania King of the US and Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia put paid to the only other Indian hope by beating Tara Iyer and Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1, 5-7, 10-4 in the doubles quarter-finals.

Sunitha Rao advances at Sunfeast Open

Sunitha Rao kept the Indian flag flying high at the Sunfeast Open, carving out a hard-fought 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over lucky loser Indonesia's Sandy Gumulya.

The Florida-based Rao, ranked 211 in the world, had a disastrous first set against the 316-ranked Gumulya but recovered to win the next two at Kolkata's Netaji Indoor stadium.

The battle of 21-year-olds saw Rao emerging triumphant in her first match win since making it to the third round of the US Open qualifiers in August.

Next up for Rao is a toughie against Britain's Anne Keothavong, who's ranked 144 in the world. The two have never played each other before but Keothavong will be on a high having dispatched 71-ranked Italian Sara Errani 6-4, 6-4 in her opening match.

The $175,000 hardcourt tournament is missing star attraction Sania Mirza after the world no. 27 withdrew at the last minute with a wrist injury.

The Tier III WTA event has one other Indian woman still in the running in the singles with wildcard Tara Iyer taking on seventh seed Italy's Flavia Pennetta (rank 69) in her opening match later today.

In the doubles, Iyer in partnership with Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak defeated the Russian pair of Julia Efremova and Ekaterina Ivanova 6-4, 7-5 in the first round.

There was no such luck for the Indian pair of Sanaa Bhambri and Isha Lakhani. The duo fell tamely 6-2, 6-0 to the fourth seeded Italians Errani and Flavia Pennetta.

No Sania for Sunfeast, Sunitha best hope

The Sunfeast Open in Kolkata has been hit hard by the withdrawal of Sania Mirza. The 20-year-old Indian was laid low by a wrist injury and will not be playing for a while. Mirza's ranking of 27, her career best, may also take a beating in the coming weeks.

As for the Tier III WTA event, Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli (rank 12), Slovakian beauty Daniela Hantuchova (rank 11) and Russia's Maria Kirilenko (rank 35) will be the top draws for a tournament won by the likes of Anastasia Myskina and Martina Hingis in previous years.

The Indian campaign will be led by Sunitha Rao (rank 211) who had been due to face Mirza in the first round. Rao will now battle lucky loser Sandy Gumulya of Indonesia.

The 21-year-old Rao was bundled out in the third round of the US Open qualifiers and has also lost her only match since - a qualifier at Bali. But Gumulya (rank 316) should not pose much of a problem for her.

In first round action at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Monday, qualifier Neha Uberoi was routed 6-2, 6-2 by Kirilenko. Uberoi, playing for the US, could not display the form she showed beating Rushmi Chakravarthi in straight sets on Sunday.

Against Kirilenko, Uberoi was done in by five doublefaults in a match which lasted for just over an hour. The world no. 267 broke Kirilenko once in the second set but the Russian retaliated with three breaks of serve for a total of five in the match.

In another match, Indian wildcard Kyla Shroff was blanked 6-0, 6-0 by eighth seed Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei (rank 81). The 14-year-old Shroff may well be India's future but it will certainly take a lot more exposure in international tournaments.

Wildcard Tara Iyer, the only other Indian apart from Rao still in the fray, takes on seventh seed Italy's Flavia Pennetta (rank 69) in her opening match.

Siblings Ankita and Sanaa Bhambri, Isha Lakhani, Shivika Burman and Ashvarya Shrivastava had all fallen by the wayside in the qualifying rounds of the $175,000 hardcourt tournament.

Sania Mirza will not be seen in action even in the doubles event which she had won with Liezel Huber as the top seeds last year. This year, none of the three Indian pairs in the event are seeded. In addition, Sunitha Rao and Tara Iyer are pairing up with foreign players.

Sunitha Rao's US Open dream shattered

Seven years. Seven attempts. Seven failures. Sunitha Rao had been on the verge of making it to the 2007 US Open singles event, but a 6-4, 6-4 loss to 78th-ranked Zi Yan of China put paid to her dream.

Rao has been playing in the qualifiers at Flushing Meadows each year since 2001, but had never gone past the second round. This year, the US-based Indian had come closest to her goal - just one match away from the main draw.

The 21-year-old's third round loss was not unexpected given the wide gap that separated the world number 219 from the second-seeded Zi in terms of WTA ranking. But Rao's wins over players ranked above her in the first two rounds of qualifying had raised expectations of the Florida-based player joining India's Sania Mirza in the singles main draw.

Ironically, the Chinese player had also beaten Rao in the first round of qualifying at the 2003 edition of the Grand Slam. Zi now leads their head-to-head tally 3-1 with Rao having snatched a lone win at Strasbourg in 2005.

Earlier this week, Rao had defeated 125th-ranked Varvara Lepchenko of Uzbekistan and 218th-ranked Romanian Monica Niculescu in the US Open qualifiers.

With Neha Uberoi (playing for the US) also succumbing in the first round of qualifying, Sania Mirza remains the only Indian-origin player in the singles main draw of the year's final Grand Slam.

No singles for Indian men at US Open

With both Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna bowing out in the qualifiers, India will not be represented in the men's singles main draw at US Open 2007.

Amritraj, ranked 270th in the world, lost in the first round of the qualifiers to 17-year-old Kei Nishikori of Japan. Amritraj won the first set before Nishikori, ranked just one place above him on the ATP list, rolled out a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win.

In all fairness, Amritraj was hampered by a torn ligament on his left wrist which restricted him to a one-handed backhand. The 23-year-old son of former tennis star Vijay Amritraj is scheduled to have surgery in Los Angeles after he returns from New York.

In 2002, just before he turned pro, Prakash made it to the main draw of the US Open before losing to Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan in straight sets.

BOPANNA OUT TOO

India's no. 1 Rohan Bopanna did one better than Amritraj this year, reaching the second round of qualifying before losing to 19th seed Pablo Cuevas. The 21-year-old Uruguayan was made to work hard before carving out a 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 7-5 victory.

The 223-ranked Bopanna had beaten Frenchman Julien Jeanpierre in straight sets in the first round.

SUNITHA ONE MATCH AWAY FROM MAIN DRAW

But there was hope yet for India in the women's singles qualifiers with 219th-ranked Sunitha Rao just one match away from the main draw.

Rao beat 125th-ranked Varvara Lepchenko of Uzbekistan in the second round of qualifying. A hard-fought first set went 7-5 in Sunitha's favour before she blanked Lepchenko in the second to record her second career victory over the Tashkent girl. Their head-to-head tally now stands at 2-2.

In the first round, Rao had beaten Romanian Monica Niculescu, ranked one place higher than her on the WTA list, in a three-setter 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.

The draws for the doubles events at the 2007 US Open were yet to be announced at the time of writing this post.