Lemoine, Vaidya advance as Men’s top seeds fall

Manama : Number one seed Quirine Lemoine from the Netherlands and eighth seed Kanika Vaidya of India both barged into the second round of the Women’s Singles Main Draw yesterday, as the Bahrain ITF Futures Tennis Tournament 2018 got underway at Bahrain Tennis Club (BTC) in Juffair.

Meanwhile, the Czech pair of Ondrej Krstev and Patrik Rikl upset the top-seeded duo of Jelle Sels from the Netherlands and Fred Simonsson of Sweden in the Men’s Doubles Draw. It was the first major stunner in the tournament, signifying the very high level of the players competing in the Kingdom of Bahrain this year.

Lemoine and Vaidya had contrasting victories in their first action on BTC’s hardcourts.

Lemoine was playing her first match after six-and- a-half months of recovering from an injury, but she showed no rust as she cruised against Romania’s Diana Maria Mihail in a fine 6-1, 6-0 win. 

Vaidya, on the other hand, was made to sweat before defeating a battling Valeria Bhunu of Zimbabwe in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

“First match win! Great to be back!” said Lemoine, who has 15 ITF singles titles in her name, including a win in the Bahrain ITF Futures back in 2014.

Singapore-based Vaidya, who is in her first time in Bahrain, added: “It was a really good, marathon-like match. Valeria played really well. I knew stepping onto the court that it was going to be a grind and nothing was going to be easy. I’m just glad I got the win in the end. “There are a lot of good women out here and no match is an easy match. It’s always nice to get that first win under your belt. I look forward to my remaining matches.”

Lemoine, ranked 321st in the world, now moves on to face Sadafmoh Tolibova of Belarus in the next round. Tolibova was also a winner on Monday as she beat Hanna Grace Espinosa of the Philippines 6-1, 6-2 to march on.

Vaidya, ranked 741st in the world, will face the winner of the all-Indian first round match-up between Sowjanya Bavisetti and Teertha Iska.

In another Women’s Singles encounter on Monday, Maria Toma of Romania beat Lithuanian Wild Card Paulina Bakaite 6-3, 6-2 to make it through to round two. In the Men’s Singles Main Draw, Bahraini talent Yousef Qaed retired from his match against Adrian Obert of Germany. Qaed, who was one of four local Wild Cards, was forced to end his fight while trailing 1-3 in the second set. Obert, ranked 840th in the world, had won the first set 6-0.

Antoine Walch of France also made it into the second round. The 1,144th-ranked player battled back from a set down and needed nearly the maximum to defeat Moroccan qualifier Mohamed Adnaoui 6-7 (1), 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Obert and Walch are now in the men’s second round, where their opponents are yet to be determined.

The Bahrain ITF Futures Tennis Tournament is being held under the patronage of HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Representative of His Majesty the King for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, President of Bahrain Olympic Committee. It is supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs and is sponsored by E K Kanoo and Bahrain Duty Free.