.Srivalli upset spree on, reaches semi-finals

Ankita’s journey ends, seventh seed Polina Ithatsenko defeated

ITF World Tennis Tour Women’s W-35 Tennis Tournament*

Narendra Bhale

Indore: India’s Srivalli Rashmika continued her explosive performance and entered the semi-finals of the women’s singles category in the ITF World Tennis Tour W-35 $ 25,000 prize money women’s tennis tournament sponsored by Madhya Pradesh Tennis Association and Indore Tennis Club under the auspices of the Indian Tennis Federation. Whereas India’s Ankita Raina’s journey ended in the quarter finals itself. She was eliminated from the competition after being defeated by seventh seed Polina Ithatsenko of Russia in a tough match. At the same time, second seed Jakupovic of Slovenia and fourth seed Manchaya Sawangkau of Thailand also managed to reach the semi-finals.

In the singles quarter-finals of this prestigious tennis event being played at Indore Tennis Club, unseeded Srivalli Rashmika of India easily defeated fifth seeded Lithuania’s Justyna Mikulskite in just 48 minutes and entered the semi-finals. Srivalli did not allow Justina to win even a single game. The Lithuanian player had no answer to his powerful serve and explosive forehand shot. But another top Indian player Ankita Raina had to face defeat in the quarter finals. Seventh seeded Polina Ithatsenko of Russia defeated Ankita 6-3, 7-6(4) in a hard-fought match. In this match which lasted for about 2 hours, Polina won the first set. Ankita tried to make a strong comeback in the second set, but it proved inadequate. At one time Ankita was close to taking the match point, but she made some mistakes due to which she had to pay the price after the defeat.
In the third quarter-final, second seed Delilah Jakupovic of Slovenia defeated Naklo Yasaporn of Thailand 6-0, 6-0 in just 40 minutes. Nakalo was no match for Delilah’s powerful shots and excellent service. In the fourth quarter-final match, Thailand’s Manchaya Sawangkaew defeated Sweden’s Jacqueline Kabaj 6-2, 6-1 in just one hour and secured her place in the last four. The semi-final matches of the singles category will be played from 10 am on Saturday.

///Srivalli and Vaidehi in doubles final

The title match of women’s doubles will be between Srivalli Rashmika and Vaidehi Chaudhary of India and fourth seeded Chinese Taipei’s Ya Li Ya-hsuan and Korea’s Sohyun Park. In the first semi-final, Srivalli Rashmika and Vaidehi Chaudhary defeated India’s Jeel Desai and Sahaja Yamalapalli 6-1, 7-6(6). In the match that lasted for one hour and 33 minutes, Rashmika and Vaidehi entered the finals by showing excellent coordination and excellent play at the net. Rashmika is also in the semi-finals of singles. In the second semi-final, fourth seeded Ya Li Ya-hsuan of Chinese Taipei and Sohyun Park of Korea defeated second seeded Jacqueline Kabaz of Sweden and Diana Marcikevisa of Latvia 4-6, 6-0, 10-1 in an interesting match. After losing the first set, the Taipei and Korean players made a strong comeback and won the set easily. Then, showing excellent coordination, they won in the tiebreak and entered the finals. The final match of the doubles category will be played on Saturday, March 16 at 1.30 pm. Prize distribution will take place after the finals.