Lehnert gets back at Chinese rival

MANILA, Philippines—Katharina Lehnert hacked out a three-set victory against her tormentor last week to make up for the stinging defeats of three local bets Wednesday in the first round of the ICTSI-ITF Women’s Circuit Week 2 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

The Fil-German Lehnert recovered from a sluggish first set and blew three match points in the third before finally ousting the cramps-stricken Lu Jianxiang of China, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

The golden-haired, bronze-skinned stunner took a 6-1, 6-2 beating from Lu in the semifinals of the first phase of the twin tourney last week.

“I was kinda nervous,” admitted Lehnert. “Especially when she was having cramps, I said I needed to be careful with my shots.”

The country’s young bets suffered stinging losses with age-group hotshots Tamitha Nguyen and Maika Jae Tanpoco heading quickly to the exits of the tourney which is playing behind schedule after matches were halted due to rains Tuesday.

Nguyen, 17, ran into top seed and last week’s semifinalist Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand who took her out, 6-2, 6-2. Tanpoco, 16, lost to Korea’s Kim Ju-eun, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).

Marinel Rudas also fell, losing to Chinese second seed Zhao Yijing,
6-2, 6-3.

Lehnert will next face Chinese Taipei fourth seed Juan Ting-fei, who brushed off Sakiko Shimizu of Japan, 6-1, 6-3.

Another crowd favorite, Belarus’ Nastassia Rubel, downed fifth seed Lu Jianjing, the twin sister of Lu, who retired due to injury after the third set.