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The cup of disappointment was overflowing for Prarthana Thombare and also it was a case of so-near-yet-so-far for the Indian as she was tripped at the final hurdle by Russian top-seed Yana Sizikova in the $10,000 Sharm El Sheikh Women’s ITF Futures being played in Cairo.
Seeded second, Prarthana put in a valiant effort before she went down to Sizikova in three sets 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-5.
Prarthana, ranked 556th in the world, kept pace with the Russian serving solidly and essaying effective groundstrokes.
The Indian was up against an opponent, who proved to be a tough nut to crack. The opening set extended into tie-break where Sizikova exuded nerves of steel to pull it through.
The tie-break loss in the opening set saw an even more pumped-up Prarthana, who was no way going to throw in the towel.
The 19-year-old raised her performance by a few notches, serving strongly and breaking the Russian’s serve when it mattered to level the issue, winning the second set at 6-3.
The decider went right down to the wire as both players served with conviction and looked for opportunities to break.
Finally, it was Sizikova who had the last laugh, breaking Prarthana’s serve to win the third set and the crown at 7-5.
Earlier in the semi-finals, Prarthana got the better of third seed Alina Mikheeva of Russia 7-5, 7-6 (1).
The Indian defeated seventh seed Francesca Stephenson of Great Britain in the quarterfinals when the latter handed her a walkover as she led 5-4.
Prarthana had got past fellow Indian Ashmitha Easwaramurthi in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 in the second round after she received a bye in the opening round.
This is the second runners-up by an Indian this week.
At the $15,000 Tevlin Men’s ITF F8 Futures: India’s Sanam Singh lost in the final to local boy and top-seed Peter Polanksy of Canada in Toronto.
The Indian, seeded second in the tournament, lost in tamely in straight sets 2-6, 2-6.
Earlier in the semi-finals, Sanam overcame stiff resistance from fifth seed Michael Shabaz of the United States before prevailing in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
The Indian defeated American Evan King in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (0) in the quarterfinals.
Sanam launched his campaign by breezing past Duck Hee Lee of Korea in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 in the first round.
