Eetee Maheta marked a dashing return to upset eighth seed Natasha Palha by 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals of the $10,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Friday.
Eetee found herself 15-30 down while serving at 3-5 in the second set, but responded by winning the next four games to turn the tide. The 17-year-old broke Natasha in the sixth game and further converted her second match point after two games to arrive at her maiden final at this level during the final set.
Originally hailing from Patan (Gujarat) and coached by Jignesh Rawal, Eetee had lost to the 19-year-old Natasha in their previous encounter. The former National junior champion did everything to outplay Natasha and the latter suffered as she felt short of a finishing stroke. Eetee will lock horns with favorite Ankita Raina in the final, to whom she had lost twice in various encounters. On the other side, second seed Ankita outplayed Shweta Rana by 6-3, 6-1 in the other semifinal.
The Indo-Hungarian pair of Rishika Sunkara and Naomi Totka survived three match points to pip Natasha Palha and Prarthana Thombare by 6-4, 4-6, 13-11 in an exciting contest in the doubles final.
