Ankita Bhambri won the $5,000 ITF Masters women's title, beating second seed Isha Lakhani 6-3, 6-3 in the final in Delhi on Friday.
The third seeded Delhi girl earned five WTA points and $800 for her effort while Lakhani had to rest contend with four WTA points and $500 at the end of the four-week circuit.
Bhambri played a well-organised game and stuck to the basics while Lakhani played well in patches and paid the penalty for trying too hard under difficult conditions, among which were strong winds.
The Mumbai girl pumped in a double-fisted forehand drop volley to secure the third game of the first set. But into the middle of the set, she lost her rhythm. Charging the net a couple of times, she was caught off-guard. Bhambri took the first set in 35 minutes when in the ninth game, with three set points in her kitty, she compelled Lakhani to hit wide.
In the second set, Lakhani again lost her first game but came back to draw parity by breaking Bhambri's next game. The Delhi girl was , however, serving well, getting a high percentage of her first serves in. Midway through the set, Lakhani tried to attack but it was too late. The affair ended when in the ninth game Bhambri broke serve after Lakhani's drop volley landed wide.
"In the beginning she put me under pressure by playing lot of shots. I was a bit surprised because she normally plays a medium-paced game. But she was erratic and was also trying to do too much," Bhambri said after the match.
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