Local favorite and fourth seed Rutuja Bhosale, along with seven foreigners, entered the second round of the $25000 KPIT-MSLTA ITF Women’s Tennis Tournament (WTT) Cup here on Wednesday.
There will be seven Indians in the second round of the singles event. In the first round matches played on Wednesday, Bhosale playing her first match in the city after her marriage, outplayed Arthi Muniyan 6-1, 6-1 in the opening round.
“I have not played with Arthi Muniyan before; she is a good opponent. However, the hardcourt was to my advantage. Arthi tried to compensate by playing aggressively. The game was quick and as the match went on, I was able to take some easy breakpoints,” Rutuja said.
In the other match, Germany’s Jasmin Jebawy was given a tough fight by young Jennifer Luikham before the former won 6-1, 5-7, 6-2. In the toughest match of the day, Jennifer took the second set but couldn’t keep the tempo going.
Eighth-seeded Irina Khromacheva of Russia, second-seeded Miriam Bianca Bulguru of Romania, fifth-seeded Marianna Zakarlyuk of Ukraine, Slovakian Pia Lovric, sixth-seeded Emily Webley Smith of Great Britain and third-seeded, Laura Pigossi of Brazil were the foreign players to make it to the round of 16.
In a thrilling first-round doubles match, third seeds Sowjanya Bavisetti and Prarthana G. Thombare were lucky to get past the wild card pair Smriti Bhasin and Akanksha Dileep Nitture 3-6,6-4, 13-1, the wildcard pair lead 8-1, 9-6 before the experienced pair Bavisetti and Thombare came back to win and make it to the quarter-finals.
Results (main draw):
Women’s singles (first round:
Irina Khromacheva (Rus) (8) bt Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty (Ind) 6-4, 6-4; Jasmin Jebawy (Ger) bt Jennifer Luikham (Ind) 6-1, 5-7, 6-2; Miriam Bianca Bulgaru (Rou) (2) bt Humera Baharmus (Ind) 6-2, 6-3; Marianna Zakarlyuk (Ukr) (5) bt Adrienn Nagy (Hun) 6-4, 6-1; Rutuja Bhosale (Ind) (4) bt Arthi Muniyan (Ind)6-1, 6-1; Pia Lovric (Slo) bt Elena Jamshidi (Den) 6-0, 6-2; Emily Webley-Smith (Gbr) (6) bt Sathwika Sama (Ind) 6-2, 6-1; Laura Pigossi (Bra) (3) bt Saumya Vig (Ind) 6-2, 6-0
Doubles (first round):
Sowjanya Bavisetti (Ind) (3)/Prarthana G. Thombare (Ind) bt Smriti Bhasin (Ind)/Akanksha Dileep Nitture (Ind) 3-6,6-4, 13-11; Jennifer Luikham (Ind)/Mihika Yadav (Ind) bt Sharmada Balu (Ind) / Snehal Mane (Ind) 2-1 (conceded); Riya Bhatia (Ind) (2) / Miriam Bianca Bulgaru (Rou) bt Jasmin Jebawy (Ger) / Marianna Zakarlyuk (Ukr) 4-6,6-3,10-6; Ashmitha Easwaramurthi (Ind) / Bhuvana Kalva (Ind) bt Likhitha Kalava (Ind) / Emma Van Poppel (Ned) 7-6(5), 6-4
