Battling Fatma advances in Manama ITF Pro Circuit tourney
MUSCAT: Omani star Fatma Al Nabhani staged a remarkable comeback to outlast Lithuanian qualifier Gerda Zykute to move into the second round of $15,000 Manama ITF Women’s Circuit tournament in the Bahraini capital on Tuesday.
A day after reaching the doubles quarterfinals in the company of Marian Jade Capadicua of the Philippines, Fatma found the going tough against Gerda Zykute in the singles first round.
The Lithuanian broke the Omani’s serve early and went on to win the first set at 6-2.
However, Fatma drew on her experience and played her natural attacking game in the second set. Then maintaining the tempo of her game, the fifth-seeded Omani went on to dominate her opponent for the rest of the match to emerge a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 winner.
In the second round, Fatma will take on Romania’s Maria Toma, who advanced after a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Paulina Bakaite of Lithuania.
On Tuesday, Fatma Al Nabhani and Marian Jade Capadicua stormed into the quarterfinals after upsetting the third seeds Nastja Kolar of Slovenia and Alexandra Riley of the U.S. for a 6-3, 6-3 win.
In the last eight stage, Fatma and Marian will take on India’s Ashmitha Easwaramurthi and Tea Faber of Croatia. In their first round match, Ashmitha and Tea Faber posted a 7-5, 6-4 win over Hanna Grace Espinosa of the Philippines and Stanzi Stuijt of the Netherlands.
The Omani star, who had already reached the quarterfinals of the doubles competition, rallied to defeat Lithuania’s Gerda Zykute in a three-set battle