India’s Shrivalli Bhamidipaty got the better of compatriot Maaya Rajeshwaran in a first-round match of the WTA 250 Chennai Open tennis tournament on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM
If players largely stayed indoors due to rain for the first two days of the WTA 250 Chennai Open tennis tournament, the third day at the SDAT-Nungambakkam Stadium on Wednesday witnessed foreign players fall victim to the hot and humid conditions as they bowed out of the tournament.
The unfavourable conditions, however, didn’t deter India’s Shrivalli Bhamidipaty and Sahaja Yamalapalli from winning their first-round singles matches.
Shrivalli eased past 16-year-old Maaya Rajeshwaran 6-1, 6-4 while Sahaja, who turned 25, got better as the match progressed as she scripted a 6-4, 6-2 victory over lucky loser Priska Nugroho of Indonesia to enter the round of 16.
The much-anticipated contest between Shrivalli and Maaya fell flat as the latter couldn’t rise to the occasion, making numerous unforced errors and being unable to devise a strategy to counter Shrivalli’s aggression.
It was a cakewalk for Shrivalli, the 23-year-old in the first set, after she took a handy 4-1 lead. Maaya showed a glimpse of her talent when she broke Shrivalli’s serve in the fourth game—after being 0-2 down—with a series of forehand and backhand winners.
She again broke Shrivalli’s serve at love in the eighth game to equalise 4-4. In the next game, she lost meekly without a fight and Shrivalli held serve rather comfortably to seal the match.
Sahaja, based in USA, was easily the better player in the second set against Priska, a counterpuncher from Indonesia. The 25-year-old Indian was at her best in the fourth game when she broke Priska, with some splendid winners from the backcourt. That was the boost she needed and the Indian never looked back since.
Barring Nina Stojanovic of Serbia, who pulled out due to a hip injury, second seed Francesca Jones (Great Britain, Maria Timofeeva (Uzbekistan) and Alina Charaeva (Russia) withdrew midway in the match, citing “heat illness.”
The results (first round): Zeynep Sonmez (Tur) bt Tatiana Prozorova (Rus) 7-5, 6-4; Linda Fruhvirtova (Cze) bt Astrid Lew Yan Foon (Fra) 6-2, 6-2; Shrivalli Bhamidipaty bt Maaya Rajeshwaran 6-1, 6-4; Donna Vekic (Cro) bt Vaishnavi Adkar 6-1, 6-2; Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Priska Nugroho (Ina) 6-4, 6-2; Kimberly Birrel (Aus) bt Nikola Bartunkova (Cze) 1-6, 6-1, 6-3; Mei Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Francesca Jones (GBr) 5-7, 6-0, 1-0 (retd.); Janice Tjen (Ina) bt Caroline Werner (Ger) 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2.
Published – October 29, 2025 11:51 pm IST
