Indians Ankita Raina and Sahaja Yamalapalli recorded victories in the first round of the $100,000 KPB Trust Women’s Open tennis tournament at the KSLTA courts here on Tuesday.
Ankita, the highest ranked Indian, defeated Russian qualifier Daria Kudashova 7-6(2), 7-6(4). Ankita did well to overcome a bout of nausea in the second set. The 32-year-old at times resorted to moon balls to give herself enough time to recover for the next shot. Kudashova erred by settling for long rallies, instead of taking an attacking approach to close out points.
Ankita will have to raise her game a few notches in the next round, when she takes on top seed Tatjana Maria.
Sahaja was impressive in a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 win over Great Britain’s Yuriko Miyazaki. Sahaja (world no. 315) used a powerful serve and crisp groundstrokes to shut out Miyazaki (world no. 182).
It was disappointment for Vaidehi Chaudhari and Shrivalli Bhamidipaty. Vaidehi fell to defending champion Darja Semenistaja 2-6, 2-6, while Shrivalli was blown away 0-6, 0-6 by eighth-seed Sara Bejlek.
Brenda Fruhvirtova, who clinched the title here in 2023, was forced to retire against Maria Timofeeva. Brenda was down 3-4 in the first set when she threw in the towel due to an injury.
Brenda’s sister Linda had a better time of it, going past Brazil’s Laura Pigossi 6-2, 7-6(5).
The results:
First round: Sahaja Yamalapalli (Ind) bt Yuriko Lily Miyazaki (GBR) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0; Ankita Raina (Ind) bt Daria Kudashova (Rus) 7-6(2), 7-6(4); Tatjana Maria (Ger) bt Petra Marcinko (Cro) 6-4, 7-5; Maria Timofeeva (Rus) bt Brenda Fruhvirtova (Cze) 4-3 (retd.); Sara Bejlek (Cze) bt Shrivalli Bhamidipaty (Ind) 6-0, 6-0; Darja Semenistaja (Lat) bt Vaidehee Chaudhari (Ind) 6-2, 6-2; Linda Fruhvirtova (Cze) bt Laura Pigossi (Bra) 6-2, 7-6(5); Rebecca Marino (Can) bt Riya Bhatia (Ind) 6-1, 6-0.