India's tennis star Karman Kaur Thandi claimed her maiden singles title on Saturday in the ITF Pro circuit. She set the bar high after winning several matches before reaching to the final of the USD 25,000 Hong Kong event and defeated local faviourite Jia-Jing Lu.
The Indian brilliantly beat the top seeded Chinese 6-1, 6-2 to clinch her maiden trophy
The 20-year-old Delhi girl did not drop a single set in her campaign. She overcame Zuzana Zlochova's of Slovakia's strategically put shots 6-2, 6-1 to reach the final of the ITF event in Hong Kong.
At the same event, India’s Pranjala Yadlapalli and partner Victoria Muntean finished as runner-up in the doubles category. The Indo-French duo lost 6-3, 6-4 to Taipei’s Lee Pei-Chi and Indonesia’s Jessy Rompies
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Karman, ranked 261, was playing Jia-Jing, ranked 185, for the second time. She had beaten her at the Navi Mumbai event last year. The 28-year-old Chinese has won 16 ITF singles title in her career. Karman earned 50 ranking points for her effort.
Karman has already got three ITF doubles titles and a couple of Fed Cup appearances for India under her belt
Karman admires Maria Sharapova. “I come from a middle-class family but I started playing tennis when I was 8-years-old. First it was the national tournaments, then ITF juniors and now here I am playing woman’s singles,” she spoke to News18 about her passion.
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Karman was recommended by 12-time Grand Slam winner Mahesh Bhupathi, who helped her enroll her name into Patrice Mouratoglou’s academy in France. Mouratoglou has been the coach of former World No.1 Serena Williams. Currently, under the guidance of Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh, who has also coached World No.1 Angelique Kerber, Karman spoke passionately about her training, She said, “It is one of the best academies in the world. They make us feel so comfortable, and look after us so well. They motivate us to improve every day. Even if I am away, I can message the coaches and talk to them any time I want.”
Feature Picture Credit: News18
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