The younger of the Fruhvirtova sisters, Brenda, struggled with a back issue that got her elder sibling, Linda, worried during their doubles first-round match in the KPB Trust Women’s Open here. This was after the Czech pair had won the opening set and trailed 4-5 in the second. With 17-year-old Brenda barely managing to move and 19-year-old Linda doing the heavy lifting, it was a chance for their opponents - Vaishnavi Adkar and Sahaja Yamalapalli - to get back into the contest and seal the deal.The Indians managed to do so for a while. The duo stayed merciless to take the second set before errors and wrong judgement from Vaishnavi and Sahaja piled up that saw them squander a golden opportunity and hand the Fruhvirtova’s a 6-2, 6-7(0/7), 11-9 win at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association courts. Later on Tuesday, it was a disappointment for last week’s New Delhi ITF W50 title winners Ankita Raina of India and Naiktha Bains of Great Britain. Up against third seeds Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia and Laura Pigossi of Brazil, the Indo-British pair barely brought their best as they lost 6-3, 6-2. Riya Bhatia, the lone Indian surviving in the singles’ qualifying rounds, pulled out mid-match due to an injury but still made it to the main draw as the lucky loser.
