Anastasia falls, Nimisha enters round three

Rushmi, Sheethal too advance on second day at KSLTA courts

The 20-year-old Japanese Anastasia, ranked 470, was sent packing by her compatriot Moe Kawatoko 6-3, 6-3 in a match that lasted one hour and 27 minutes at the KSLTA courts.

Rushmi Chakravarthi, the sixth seed, also seemed destined for an early exit but the 33-year-old brought all her experience into play to rally past Karnataka’s wild card entrant Anushree Thammanna 1-6, 6-1, 6-0.

Another host player Nimisha Mohan overcame a shaky start to defeat Shweta Kakhandki Gadigeppa 6-4, 6-0 to set up a clash with fifth seed Sanaa Bhambri, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over compatriot Adnya Naik. The 16-year-old Nimisha, who trailed 1-4 in the first set, came back strongly to win the next 11 games on the trot to brush aside Shweta’s challenge.

Earlier, sixth-seeded Rushmi, who is playing her first competitive tournament after a two-month injury lay-off, looked rusty initially.

 Rushmi struggled with her serves and her forehands mostly landed over the baseline. Capitalising on her opponent’s largesse and doing the the basic thing right — keeping the ball in play — Anushree took the first set in 25 minutes.

Pressure then got the better of Anushree as her serving went awry in the second and third sets. Anushree did break Rushmi in the fifth game of the second set but the sixth seed promptly broke back and served out the set 6-1. Rushmi cruised in the third set to grab the victory in 62 minutes.

Local girl Sheethal Goutham defeated Prathana Prathap 6-1, 6-0 in the first round. Sheethal will meet seventh seed Slovakian Dalila Jakupovic, who outplayed Carla Venticinque Torres of Spain 6-1, 6-0.

Top seed Poojashree Venkatesha, who entered the pre-quarterfinals on Monday, faces qualifier Aishwarya Agrawal on Wednesday.

Treta Bhattacharya was another Indian winner on the day.

She defeated Tegan Edwards of South Africa 6-3. 6-4, after encountering some resistance in the second set.

In the doubles event, India’s Rushmi and Sanaa Bhambri entered the second round with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Elodie R of France and Subbadharmi Sundaram of the United States.

Results (Indians unless mentioned, prefix denotes seeding):
Singles (first round): 5-Sanaa Bhambri bt Adnya Naik 6-2, 6-2; 6-Rushmi Chakravarthi bt Anushree Thammanna 1-6, 6-1, 6-0; Elodie Rogge-Dietrich (Fra) bt Jasmin Steinherr (Ger) 6-1, 6-2; 3-Isha Lakhani bt Kumari Sweta Solanki 6-1, 6-2; Treta Bhattacharyya bt Tegan Edwards (RSA) 6-3, 6-4; Sheethal Goutham bt Prathana Prathap 6-1, 6-0; Rishika Sunkara bt Ashvarya Shrivastava 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4; Aishwarya Agrawal bt Nicola Mooney (GBR) 6-3, 6-3; Nimisha Mohan bt Shweta Kakhandki Gadigeppa 6-4, 6-0; 4-Keren Shlomo (Isr) bt Stephanie Theiler (Sui) 6-1, 6-2; Shivika Burman bt Natalia Perepadenko (Spa) 4-3 (Natalia retired); 8-Chun-Yan He (Chn) bt Jade Hopper (Aus) 7-6(3), 6-3; Prerna Bhambri bt Asha Nanda Kumar 6-3, 6-2; 7-Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) bt Carla Venticinque Torres (Spa) 6-1, 6-0; Moe Kawatoko (Jpn) bt Anastasia Malhotra (Jpn) 6-3, 6-3.

Doubles (first round): Sanaa Bhambri/ Rushmi C bt Elodie R (Fra)/ Subbadharmi S (US) 6-0, 6-4; Isha L/ Poojashree V bt Sheethal Goutham/ Anushree T 6-0, 6-3.