Liza Pereira completed a grand double, defeating local favourite Ankita Bhambri in the final match in New Delhi on Saturday to win the singles title at the second leg of the $5000 ITF women's tennis circuit.
Bhambri put up a brave performance but it was Mumbai girl Pereira who emerged victorious with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 scoreline in a keenly-contested match at the DLTA courts.
Pereira had on Friday teamed up with Isha Lakhani to win the doubles crown.
Bhambri started the match in a grand way breaking Pereira in the very first game, but failed to sustain the pressure on her opponent who bounced back in style effecting two breaks in the first and three more in the final set to win the title.
The match, which started under scorching sun, gained momentum as it progressed with both the teenagers playing great tennis to draw applause from the crowd.
After some early hiccups, Pereira took firm control of the match when she, trailing 1-3 in the first set, played some enthralling shots to level the score before a break in the 10th game gave her the set.
Displaying total control, she forced Bhambri to the baseline as the latter struggled to come to terms with the stifling heat.
With the onset of evening, Bhambri grew in stature and forced her opponent to battle it out for every point. She came perilously close to defeat in the second set itself when Pereira broke her serve in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. But she won the next four games, which included two breaks, to take the summit clash to the decider.
More drama unfolded under lights in the final set, which saw the Mumbai girl surge ahead, taking advantage of some loss in concentration by Bhambri.
Pereira broke the fourth and sixth games of the set to take a 5-1 lead before Bhambri made it 2-5 breaking the next game. But Pereira had the last laugh when she broke her exhausted and tired-looking opponent to take the match and the title.
