On October 27, the L&T Mumbai Open began and with it, began a clash of the champions of lawn tennis. While the qualifiers were a shocker for several as some of the best encounters were witnessed, the main draw saw a quick departure of Indian players. Here is a brief report of what happened so far:
Wildcard entrant Mahak Jain surprised everyone by pulling off an upset victory over Russia’s Yana Sizikova to make way for her in the second round of the qualifiers. On the other hand, Hiroko Kutawa of Japan registered an easy victory against India’s Sowjanya Bavisetti through sheer dominance in her game.
Another Indian Pranjala Yadlapalli outclassed another wild card Mihika Yadav and ensured a clash against Georgia’s Oksana Kalashnikova who registered an easy win over Kyrgyzstan’s Ksenja Ulukan. In the meantime, Tereza Martincova (CZE) blanked Japan’s Naoko Eto to set a match with Georgia’s Sofia Shapatova in the second round.
Results: Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) bt Mihika Yadav (IND) 6-3, 6-0; Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO) bt Ksenia Ulukan (KGZ) 6-2, 6-1; Hiroko Kuwata (JPN) bt Sowjanya Bavisetti (IND) 6-2, 6-1; Sofia Shapatava (GEO) bt Ashmith Easwaramurthi (IND) 6-0, 6-3; Tereza Martincova (CZE) bt Naoko Eto (JPN) 6-0, 6-0; Mahak Jain (IND) bt Yana Sizikova (RUS) 3-6, 6-3,7-5 ; Urszula Radwanska (Pol) bt Emily Webley-Smith (UK) 6-4, 6-3; Natalija Kostic (SRB) bt Fiona Codino (FRA) 7-5, 6-0.
The only Indian to qualify through the second round and enter the main draw of Mumbai open was Panjala Yadlapalli who defeated Georgia’s Oksana Kalashnikova with a hint of domination in her gameplay. On the other hand, 17-year-old Mahak Jain lost against Hiroko Kuwata of Japan whereas Tereza Martincova made it to the main draw after registering a victory against Sofia Shapatava.
Results: Pranjala Yadlapalli (IND) bt Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO) 6-4, 6-3; Tereza Martincova (CZE) bt Sofia Shapatava (GEO) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0; Hiroko Kuwata (JPN) bt Mahak Jain (IND) 6-3, 6-4; Urszula Radwanska (POL) bt Natalija Kostic 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
Meanwhile, the main draw of the tournament was pushed to Tuesday, October 30 after the organisers realised that the match was in a clash with the India vs West Indies ODI match which was scheduled to happen at CCI’s Brabourne Stadium. In order to avoid any untoward incident, the event was pushed forward.
As the qualifiers concluded, four Indian players were set to begin their singles campaign on October 31 with Ankita Raina facing Rutuja Bhosle, Karman Kaur Thandi encountering top seed Zheng Saisai of China and Pranjala taking on fifth seed Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand.
Former World No. 12 Sabine Lisicki was unable to sustain against Japan’s Nao Hibino after Sabine, who is on a comeback lost the first round match of the Mumbai Open at the CCI courts. Later in the day, third seed Sachia Vickery was defeated by Israel’s Denis Khazaniuk after the former struggled physically. Deniz won against her in a decider.
On the other hand, on the second day of the main draw, the Indian players made an early exit after Karman Thandi lost an error-prone game to China’s Zheng Saisai and Pranjala was unable to sustain the dominating Luksika Khumkhum. However, both of them put up a formidable fight and impressed their opponents who were all praises for the players after the match.
1st round: 1-Saisai Zheng (CHN) bt Karman Thandi (IND) 6-2, 6-4; Danka Kovinic (MNE) bt 4-Olga Danilovic (SRB) 4-6 ,7-5 ,6-0; 6-Margarita Gasparyan (RUS) bt Tereza Mrdeza (CRO) 6-3, 6-2; 5-Luksika Khum Khum (Thai) bt Pranjala Yadlapalli 3-6, 7-5, 61.
2nd round: Valentini Grammatikopoulou (GRE) bt Deniz Khazaniuk (ISR) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; 3-Dalila Jakupovic (SLO) bt Sabina Sharipova (UZB) 6-4, 6-2; Irina Khromacheva (RUS) bt Urszula Radwanska (POL) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2;
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