Ankita Raina and Sahaja Yamalapalli to take on seeded players in first round of L&T Mumbai Open Tennis Championships
Mumbai, February 3: India’s top two ranked players, Ankita Raina and Sahaja Yamalapalli drew tough first round opponents as the draw for the L&T Mumbai Open WTA 125K Series Tennis Championships, being organized by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) and the Cricket Club of India (CCI), was made on the lawns of the Brabourne Stadium on Saturday evening.
Raina, who was present for the ceremony and is ranked No. 228 in the world, will face a player ranked more than 100 spots above her in eighth seeded American Katie Volynets. Yamalapalli, ranked No. 335 in the world, drew the top seed, Kayla Day, also from the United States, in the first round.
The other two Indian wild card entrants into the main draw, Rutuja Bhosale and Vaishnavi Adkar, will begin their campaigns against qualifiers.
Second seed Nao Hibino, of Japan, will also begin against one of the six qualifiers, who will be determined on Sunday. The two-time WTA titlist could run into last year’s junior world No 1 Alina Korneeva in the second round. The 16-year-old, who qualified and reached the second round of the Australian Open women’s singles event last month, faces France’s Chloe Paquet in the opening round.
Third seed Tamara Zidansek, a former French Open semi-finalist, opens up against Anastasia Tikhonova while fourth seed Arina Rodionova, who will become the oldest woman, at the age of 34, to make her top 100 debut on Monday, faces Dutchwoman Suzan Lamens in the first round.
In first round of the qualifying draw on Saturday, three Indian women, Zeel Desai, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty and Vaidehi Chaudhari, won their opening matches to advance to the second and final round of qualifying, which takes place on Sunday. Main draw matches for the tournament kick off on Monday February 5th.
About the L&T Mumbai Open WTA 125 Series
L&T Mumbai Open Tennis Championships is returning to Mumbai after a gap of six years, with reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka winning the inaugural edition in 2017 as a teenager and Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum winning the title in 2018.
