Akgul stuns second seed Bondarenko
Oct 4th, 2005

Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova gave the Tashkent Open a rousing start for local fans by knocking out second seed Alona Bondarenko.

The 1.91m tall Amanmuradova used a booming serve and powerful forehand to subdue Bondarenko 7-6 (1), 6-4 in an hour and 18 minutes.

Amanmuradova, ranked 252 in the world, was a wild card entry while Bondarenko is ranked 74. Shades of last year, when Iroda Tulyaganova, given a wild card, knocked out top-seeded Marion Bartoli in the first round.

Having won the Asian title at this same venue only a month ago, Amanmuradova was very confident and served out the match in the 10 th game of the second set after being 15-40 down. And it was a solid first serve which Bondarenko couldn't handle that gave her the win.

“I knew that if I serve well I have a chance to beat her,” a delighted Amanmuradova said later. And serve well she did, sending down eight aces in addition to several service winners.

Asked if she felt pressure in the final game, she replied with a big smile: “I knew if the score became 5-all, the pressure would only increase. So I had to close it out.”

Said Bondarenko, one of three tennis playing sisters from Ukraine: “She played very well, served very well.” She added that she wasn't at her best because she had arrived only yesterday from home and had not got adjusted to the local conditions.

Earlier in the day, Iroda Tulyaganova won through to the second round. Two rounds of qualifying have obviously given her some sharpness on court. Add to that a totally off-colour opponent and it was all too simple for the former world No 16.

She took less than an hour to defeat Ukrainian Olga Savchuk 6-2, 6-2 and set up a possible second round clash with third-seed Antonella Serra Zanetti, the woman who beat her last year at the same stage of the event. Serra Zanetti is drawn to play Ukraine's Martya Koryttseva in the first round.

Savchuk, a quarter-finalist here last year, never got into the match. Two double faults in the opening game, out of nine in the match totally, and a series of unforced errors left her looking helpless as Tulyaganova cruised to victory with some consistent serving and hard hitting on both flanks.

“It wasn't that easy,” said Tulyaganova later. “She has a hard serve but I'm playing better and better.” Delighted to have strung three wins on three successive days, Tulyaganova was also satisfied that she was able to defend the points she earned her last year, when, as a wild card, she upset top-seed Marion Bartoli in the first round.

“Iroda played well,” a dejected Savchuk said later. “I had no feel, I just couldn't get my serve going.”

Other first-round winners on the day were Galina Voskoboeva of Russia and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic.

Voskoboeva, beat Argentina's Ma. Emilla Salerni, who is ranked seven places above her at 120, 6-3, 7-5, getting two big serves to stave off breakpoints in the 12 th game of the second set.