Sixth-seeded Parija Maloo showed great resilience in saving six match points in her three-set win over Thai Satjaporn Mahajaroenkul 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
The 17-year-old Rashmi served big and her devastating forehand, especially while hitting cross-court, left an error-prone Gianotti scurrying into the corners.
Rashmi broke the 21-year-old Ausralian in the fourth and sixth games of the match, but dropped the seventh, serving for the first set. She, however, made up for the lapse by breaking back immediately.
The diminutive Indian was 3-0 ahead in the second set and she was serving for the match with another break in the sixth game. Again, Gianotti managed to pull the break back and Rashmi, too, broke back again to take the set and match, a double fault giving her the matchpoint.
In other first round matches, Treta Bhattacharyya beat Shivika Burman 6-2, 6-3 and Sonya Dayal overcame the second set loss to win 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Second-seeded Anastasia Malhotra of Japan, too, advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 win over last week’s quarterfinalist Renee Binnie.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks