Fifth-seeded Sahaja Yamlapalli showcased her consistent performance on the Indian circuit by advancing to the second round of the singles at the W35 Maha Urja Nagpur Open ITF Women’s Championships. The event is organized by the Nagpur District Hard Court Tennis Association (NDHTA) and Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) under the auspices of ITF, AITA, and played on the clay courts of the MSLTA Tennis Academy Tennis Complex at Ramnagar.

Out of the six Indians in action today, Sahaja was the sole player to progress to the second round, overcoming the initial setback to defeat another Indian, Vaidehi Chaudhari, with a scoreline of 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 in a match lasting 1 hour and 46 minutes. Sahaja is now set to face Wildcard Sonal Patil in the round of sixteen, ensuring an Indian player secures a spot in the quarterfinals.

In other matches involving Indians, top-seeded Irina Maria Bara of Romania halted the run of qualifier Akanksha Nitture with a score of 6-1, 6-3. Russian qualifier Anastasia Zolotareva demonstrated consistency to overcome an inconsistent Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty with a score of 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. Unseeded Korean Dayeon Back dominated the qualifier Anjali Rathi with a convincing 6-1, 6-1 victory.

In the longest match of the day, lasting 2 hours and 13 minutes, Japanese Ikumi Yamazaki utilized her experience to quell the challenge of qualifier Vaishnavi Adkar with a score of 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Notable upsets of the day included Mei Yamaguchi of Japan defeating third seed and last week’s winner, Justina Mikulskyte of Lithuania, with a score of 7-5, 6-2. Another Japanese player, Ayumi Koshiishi, caused an upset by defeating fourth-seeded Diana Marcinkevica of Latvia with a score of 6-4, 7-6(6), securing a spot in the round of sixteen.

In doubles action, Sahaja Yamlapalli, in tandem with Italian Miriana Tona, also advanced to the quarterfinals by narrowly defeating the scratch pair of Sharmada Balu and Japanese Rinon Okuwaki with a score of 7-5, 4-6, 10-8.

Results: First Round: Singles:

• Irina Maria Bara (Rou) [1] bt Akanksha Nitture (Ind) 6-1, 6-3.
• Sahaja Yamlapalli (Ind) [5] bt Vaidehi Chaudhari (Ind) 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.
• Anastasia Zolotareva bt Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty (Ind) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.
• Ayumi Koshiishi (Jpn) bt Diana Marcinkevica (Lat) [4] 6-4, 7-6(6).
• Ikumi Yamazaki (Jpn) bt Vaishnavi Adkar (Ind) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
• Mei Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Justina Mikulskyte (Ltu) [3] 7-5, 6-2.
• Dayeon Back (Kor) bt Anjali Rathi (Ind) 6-1, 6-1.
• Yeonwoo Ku (Kor) bt Yasmine Mansouri (Fra) 7-5, 3-6, 6-0.

Doubles: First Round:

• Thasaporn Naklo (Tha) / Akiko Omae (Jpn) bt Zeel Desai (Ind) / Snehal Mane (Ind) 6-1, 7-6(5).
• Irina Maria Bara (Rou) / Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) [1] bt Humera Baharmus (Ind) / Pooja Ingale (Ind) 6-1, 6-2.
• Miriana Tona (Ita) / Sahaja Yamlapalli (Ind) bt Sharmada Balu (Ind) / Rinon Okuwaki (Jpn) 7-5, 4-6, 10-8.
• Fanny Ostlund (Swe) [2] / Ekaterina Yashina bt Ayumi Koshiishi (Jpn) / Michika Ozeki (Jpn) 7-5, 7-6(3).