Tammy, Luksika through to last eight
Play
Eighth-seeded Tamarine Tanasugarn and young compatriot Luksika Kumkhum each needed three sets to win their second-round matches in the US$125,000 Royal Indian Open in Pune on Wednesday.
The 35-year-old Tammy took two hours and nine minutes to beat Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay, 12 years her junior, 4-6 6-3 6-3, to book a quarter-final spot in the Challenger Series.
“I was rusty, made a lot of mistakes, while she kept the ball deep and played very solidly. So I had to step up the pace and play more aggressively,” said world No 153 Tammy, who said conditions in Pune were hard to deal with.
“It’s not easy to play here as the ball flies, making it difficult to control. That’s why I had to play three sets in the first two rounds,” said Tamarine, who faces third seed Donna Vekic of Croatia today.
“She’s an upcoming player. She has big serves, big groundstrokes and is very solid. She will be tough to play,” said Tammy, who has two more tournaments – in Toyota and Dubai – before the end of the year.
In another second-round match, Luksika upset fourth-seeded Eva Birnerova of the Czech Republic 3-6 6-3 6-1 to set up a quarte-final with seventh-seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
