Sahaja Yamlapalli and Vaidehi Chaudari were the only Indians to enter the second round at the IWTC-2023 ITF World Tennis Tour $40,000 Tournament (Shri Ganesh Naik Initiative) organized by the Navi Mumbai Sports Association in association with Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) under the auspices of the ITF , AITA and to be played at the Ganesh Naik Tennis Complex in Vashi.
In the best match of the day, the winners of the Solapur leg and eighth-seeded Sahaja Yamalapalli came back from the loss of the first set to get past Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 in a match lasting 2 hours and 39 mins. In contrast,
Vaidehi Chaudhari registered a 6-0, 6-4 win over Russian Ekaterina Kazionova to make the second round.
Young wildcard Vaishnavi Adkar, gave a good account of herself taking the first set against higher ranked Zhibek Kulambayeva of Kazakhstan but failed to capitalise, In a match lasting 2 hours and 28 mins Kulambayeva rallied out Vaishnavi Adkar 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
In another match Japanese Akiko Omae scored a 6-1, 6-4 win over local wildcarder Akanksha Nitture .
Other Indians Arunlumar Lakshmi Prabha ,and Humera Baharmus also went down . It was another blow for the Indian campaign as Rutuja Bhosale withdrew from the singles after she encountered pain in the foot.
Results: First Round: Singles:
Ekaterina Makarova [1] bt Weronika Baszak (Pol)6-2, 0-1;
Vaidehi Chaudhari (Ind) bt Ekaterina Kazionova 6-0, 6-4;
Justina Mikulskyte (Ltu) [3] bt Hiromi Abe (Jpn)6-3, 7-5;
Zhibek Kulambayeva (Kaz) bt Vaishnavi Adkar (Ind)4-6, 7-5, 6-3;
Ekaterina Maklakova bt Vicky Van De Peer (Bel) 6-4, 6-3;
Diana Marcinkevica (Lat) [6] bt Arunkumar Lakshmi Prabha (Ind)6-3, 6-2;
Akiko Omae (Jpn) bt Akanksha Nitture (Ind) 6-1, 6-4;
Sahaja Yamalapalli (Ind) [8] bt Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty (Ind)5-7, 6-1, 6-2;
Moyuka Uchijima (Jpn) [2] bt Mana Kawamura (Jpn)6-4, 6-1;
Daria Kudashova bt Humera Baharmus (Ind)6-4, 4-1;
Doubles:
Funa Kozaki (Jpn) /Misaki Matsuda (Jpn) bt Humera Baharmus (Ind) /Soha Sadiq (Ind)6-2, 6-1.
