Shortly after Rutuja Bhosale and Vaishnavi Adkar reached the Chennai Open doubles final, Bhosale’s phone rang. It was her father-in-law, and he had one line for her.

“Arey, Diwali is done for us!” Bhosale said, laughing, as she recounted the call at the post-match press conference.

Back home in Pune, the same feeling would come out as Diwali zali amchi – our Diwali has arrived.

The Indian pair beat second seeds Weronika Falkowska of Poland and Alana Smith of the USA 6-2 2-6 10-8 on Saturday to become the first all-Indian team to reach a WTA Tour level doubles final. They will play for the title on Sunday, November 8, which is Diwali.

“It’s an incredible feeling, just to do it on home soil. To do it with someone I really enjoy playing with, someone I really believe in,” Bhosale said.

Family in the stands

The week had not been easy on Bhosale physically. She is managing a few injuries and fell ill during the tournament, and she said having her people around helped her through it. Her husband was in Chennai, which she said does not happen often during the season.

“I also have home support, and our whole team was here, so that was really helpful for us because I am battling a few injuries, and I also got sick this week. So yes, definitely really nice to have my husband around, which we don’t get to do often.”

The pair only found out after the match that they had made history. “We had no idea we were the first Indian pair [to reach a WTA final]. So yeah, I mean, it’s something that I’ll always remember.”

How the super tie-break turned

After taking the opening set, the Indians lost their way in the second. Bhosale said it stayed level until 2-all, with a string of deuce games, before it got away from them.

“Deuce games are like… it can go either way. So yeah, I really don’t know where it went wrong in the second set,” she said.

Adkar took a medical timeout during the match for a left hip problem, similar to the one she dealt with in her singles campaign earlier in the week. She said it cost her energy in the second set, and the pair started the super tie-break slowly, falling behind 0-3.

Bhosale had faced Falkowska and Smith a couple of weeks earlier with a different partner and knew what was coming. “I knew those girls had no fear; they go for all their shots,” she said. The Indians decided to answer in kind. “We had one agenda today, which was to go for all our shots, and I think that really, really worked for us, especially at the end.”

She credited her partner for holding the tie-break together. “Vaishnavi really held her ground in the tie-break, and I was able to bring up my energy towards the end of it.”

Adkar said the two kept reminding each other to enjoy the occasion. “It’s very rare that you get to play a 250 semi-final in front of the home crowd. The atmosphere was just amazing, so yeah, really happy.”

A bittersweet final

The run comes in what may be the Chennai Open’s final edition, and possibly the last WTA Tour event in India for the foreseeable future.

Adkar chose to look at it from the other side. “If it’s the last time in India, I’m really glad that we could make the best out of it and play the finals.”

Bhosale said it was “a sad part for our country that the tournament is leaving,” but that she was taking the positives. The event has meant a lot to her: last year, she and Riya Bhatia reached the semi-finals here, a run she calls her breakthrough. “To play the finals here again… Hopefully, we can finish with a win!”

Chennai, since she was 14

Bhosale’s bond with the city goes back well before her professional career.

“I think it’s been my happy hunting ground since I was 14, actually! I won my Junior B1 here when I was 14,” she said. “Every time I’ve played here, I’ve loved the conditions. I love coming back here—I love the food, I’ve been cafe-hopping here!”

“It’s sad that the tournament is leaving, but it’s incredible that I was able to do it here in front of my people, in front of my team, where everyone gets to watch it.”

On Sunday, Bhosale and Adkar will try to win the title on Diwali. For her family, as her father-in-law put it, the festival came a day early.

Chennai Open 2026 – Women’s Doubles Semi-final Vaishnavi Adkar (IND)/ Rutuja Bhosale (IND) d. [2] Weronika Falkowska (POL)/ Alana Smith (USA) 6-2 2-6 10-8