17-year-old Indian wild card Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi (IND, 669 · UTR 11.15) produced a fearless comeback on Tuesday evening at the 2026 WTA 250 Chennai Open, rallying from 1-4 and 2-5 down in the deciding set to defeat 8th seed Katarzyna Kawa (POL, 115 · UTR 11.79) 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(5) in 2 hours and 29 minutes at the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Nungambakkam.
Comeback From 2-5 Down in Set 3 Seals 7-6(5) Win Over 8th Seed Katarzyna Kawa
After breaking in the opening game of the match and saving break points in Games 8 and 10 to claim the 45-minute 1st set 6-4, Rajeshwaran Revathi (IND, 669 · UTR 11.15) dropped 4 consecutive games from 2-2 in the 38-minute 2nd set as Kawa (POL, 115 · UTR 11.79) leveled the contest at 2-6. When the Polish 8th seed surged ahead 4-1 and 5-2 in the 66-minute decider, the 17-year-old Indian saved a break point to hold for 2-4, held for 3-5, broke Kawa to 15 when she served for the match at 5-3, and leveled at 5-5. In the deciding tiebreak, Rajeshwaran Revathi raced out to a 5-2 lead and, after Kawa pulled level at 5-5, reeled off the final 2 points to seal a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(5) victory.
Breaking Kawa at 3-5 & winning the final 2 points from 5-5 in the 3rd-set tiebreak
Trailing 2-5 in the deciding set with 8th seed Katarzyna Kawa serving for the match at 5-3, Rajeshwaran Revathi won 3 straight games to draw even at 5-5 and closed out the tiebreak 7-5 by taking the last 2 points from 5-5.
| Round | Match | Score | Match Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| R32 | [WC] Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi (IND, 669 · UTR 11.15) def. [8] Katarzyna Kawa (POL, 115 · UTR 11.79) | 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(5) | Rallied from 2-5 down in Set 3 and saved 5 of 9 break points in 2h 29m. |
“There were times where I was quite scared and I regretted it. When I stepped on court today, I had this thing that whatever happens today, I am not going to regret the way that I play.”
Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi · Post-Match Press Conference Q&A
Congratulations on a thrilling 3-set win over 8th seed Katarzyna Kawa. Could you walk us through your mindset out there as you fought back in the deciding set?
Just like before, I just tried to play 1 match at a time and play 1 point at a time. Today I tried to stay as long as I could on court and just tried to fight it out, and it went my way. I think that is what every match is about, right? You just try to stay on court as long as you can, and if you are lucky enough, you can fight it through and win.
Maaya, you were relentless throughout — you were going for big shots even when it was very risky to take those shots. What makes you so fearless?
I think I have learned my lessons. There were times where I was quite scared and I regretted it. When I stepped on court today, I had this thing that whatever happens today, I am not going to regret the way that I play. I think that paid off today — I was out there, I was brave enough to go for those shots, and at the end of the day it was good to see them go in.
To add on to that question, as a young wild card you had nothing to lose and no added pressure on you. Do you think that played a part in your game — having nothing to lose and just going for your shots?
Well, yeah, I think it does play a part, considering last year I had nothing to lose as well. Overall, it was important for me to just go out there and express the way I play at the end of the day, and that is what matters to me. Today, more than the fact that I won, I am happy about the way that I fought on court, and at the end of the day that means a lot to me.
“Today, more than the fact that I won, I am happy about the way that I fought on court, and at the end of the day that means a lot to me.”
Can you tell us about your training approach after the change in training center — how it was in Spain and how it is now, and whether your new team has brought any changes to the way you approach matches and training?
Well, 1st of all, everywhere you play tennis — that is how it is! Right now, just like I have said earlier, I am happy with the team that I am with, and I trust the people that I have around me. They are giving their best, they are always staying with me, and as I have said before, I am blessed to have good people around me.
In terms of changes in approach, yes — in terms of my approach towards my game style, and in terms of finding solutions in matches. They stay with me throughout the matches more, they travel with me throughout, and it has been only 3 months that we have been trying to understand each other. It has gone much faster than I thought, I feel much more comfortable with them, and they make me feel at home.
In this tournament, Vaishnavi Adkar had that win earlier today, and even in the qualifiers Jensi Kanabar played a great match. Being part of this generation of young Indian tennis players — all of you playing so fearlessly and doing so well, with people having high expectations from you — what does that mean to you when you step onto the court?
I think 1st of all, we have a great legacy in the sport since ages — we have always had really good players, and it is nice to see a new generation come up. After Sania Mirza, there was a small gap, and now it is nice to see a lot of players coming up and a lot of players competing and fighting hard. Everyone is doing a really good job, I am happy to be part of it, and hopefully things go well for all of us.
The other day when we spoke to your coach, he mentioned that you have worked a lot on your serve, and today we could see those serves going in smoothly. Can you tell us what went on behind the scenes and how you developed such a fearless serve?
With the serve, more than the technical aspect, I think we have worked on me feeling more confident about my serve. I think previously in my head I had this thing where I felt my serve was quite bad, whereas my coach was the 1st 1 to tell me, “Actually you have a really good serve — you are tall and you have a good arm, and you have always had a good serve. Let us just try to keep improving it and let us not try to talk it down.” I think that has been a big boost for me in terms of raising my confidence when I go to hit my serve. And for me, on the 2nd serve as well, they want me to hit it at the same pace and go for it, and I think that helped today.
Next Round Schedule · Singles Round of 16 & Doubles Round of 16
| Round | Match | Court | Scheduled Start Time (IST) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singles R16 | [WC] Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi (IND, 669 · UTR 11.15) vs. Weronika Falkowska (POL, 277 · UTR 11.39) | SDAT Tennis Stadium | Nov 4 · 6:00 PM IST |
| Doubles R16 | Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty (IND, 434) / Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi (IND, 815) vs. Aneta Kucmova (CZE, 108) / Aneta Laboutkova (CZE, 115) | SDAT Tennis Stadium | Nov 4 · 7:30 PM IST |
