Sahaja Yamalapalli, Maaya Rajeshwaran Eliminated From Mumbai Open WTA Draw

Indian players Sahaja Yamalapalli, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty and Vaishnavi Adkar were all eliminated in the round of 32 singles matches at the Mumbai Open WTA 125K Series on Tuesday.

India’s No. 1 women’s singles player, Yamalapalli, was defeated by Japan’s Eri Shimizu 7-5, 6-2, in a match lasting an hour and 50 minutes.

Bhamidipaty, despite a spirited effort, lost to Kristiana Sidorova, who was clinical in her approach and won the match 6-1, 6-3, advancing to the next round.

Fifth-seed Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand proved too strong for 16-year-old Indian Wild Card Maaya. Although Maaya, last edition’s semifinalist, fought hard in both sets, Tararudee closed out the match 6-3, 6-2.

Austria’s Lilli Tagger, coming off her French

Open Juniors title win last year, defeated Maharashtra’s Vaishnavi in a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4 victory.

Additionally, Darja Semenistaja, Yasmine Kabbaj, Eri Shimizu, Sohyun Park, Fangran Tian, Tatiana Prozorova, and Hanne Vandewinkel advanced to the round of 16 with their respective wins.

The winner of the 2024 edition, Semenistaja, registered a composed straight-sets victory over Italy’s Diletta Cherubini.

In an all-Asian encounter, China’s Tian delivered a dominant performance against Japan’s Rina Saigo, winning 6-0, 6-3.

Ninth-seed Prozorova easily defeated Indonesia’s Priska Nugroho in just over an hour, securing a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

Belgium’s Vandewinkel, the tournament’s fourth seed, beat Poland’s Zuzanna Pawlikowska 6-3, 6-3 in straight sets.

Meanwhile, India’s Rutuja Bhosale is paired with Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech as the top seed for the doubles main round to be played from February 4-8.

They will face Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew and Argentina’s Nicole Fossa Huergo.

India’s No. 4 and No. 5 women’s doubles players, Ankita Raina and Bhamidipati, will pair up to face France’s Leolia Jeanjean and Japan’s Naima Karamoko.

India’s No. 2 women’s doubles player, Prarthana Thombare, will team up with 21-year-old Alevtina Ibragimova to take on Elena Pridanika and Polina Iatcenko, the second-seed pairing.

(With PTI Inputs)