Top seed in girls singles crashes out on Day 1 of ITF juniors tennis meet

Kolkata Jan 15 (IANS) Top seed in girls singles of the Under-18 category Thailand s Mai Napatt Nirundorn lost to France s unseeded Jade Bornay 4-6 3-6 on the first day of the ITF juniors tennis championship at the Dakshin Kalikata Sansad (DKS) here on Monday.

Bornay managed to break top seeded Napatt in the fourth and sixth game thereby taking a big lead of 5-1.

From there on she lost the momentum as she served two double faults in both seventh as well as ninth service game and threw away the lead though she eventually managed to bag the set by a close 6-4.

The second set went on till 3-3 after which Bornay refused to drop a point and held serve. In the eighth game Bornay played long to break Nirundon s serve and followed it up with a strong hold.

Bornay entered the pre-quarter final with a 6-4 6-3 win.

Meanwhile local girl and wildcard entrant Yubarani Banerjee gave the audience a reason to cheer as she pulled out a long three-setter marathon against Netherland s Isabelle Haverlag by a close 6-4 1-6 6-4 victory.

--IANS
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