KPB Trust Women’s Open: Fruhvirtova sisters survive, Ankita-Naiktha crash

Bengaluru: 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. 

After four of the five Indians were ousted in the singles qualifying first round on Monday, the hosts’ hopes hinged on Riya to salvage some pride.

However, as the 27-year-old retired when she was 1-6, 1-2 down against Slovenia’s Dalila Jakupovic.

Riya, who later partnered Zeal Desai and lost to top seeds Amina Anshba and Elena Pridankina of Russia in the first round of the doubles main draw, is up against the second-seeded Rebecca Marino in the opening round on Wednesday. 

Results:

Doubles:

First round: 

Brenda Fruhvirtova/ Linda Fruhvirtova (Cze) bt Sahaja Yamalapalli/ Vaishnavi Adkar (Ind) 6-2, 6-7 (0-7), 11-9

4-Jessie Aney/ Jessica Failla (US) bt Diana Marcinkevica/ Darja Semenistaja 6-2, 6-1

Alicia Barnett (GBR)/ Prarthana G Thombare (Ind) bt Akanksha Nitture/ Soha Sadiq (Ind) 6-1, 6-2

Lina Glushko (Isr)/ Anastasia Tikhonova (Rus) bt Alevtina Ibragimova/ Ekaterina Yashina (Rus) 6-4, 4-6, 10-5

3-Dalila Jakupovic (Slo)/ Laura Pigossi (Bra) bt Ankita Raina (Ind)/ Naiktha Bains (GBR) 6-3, 6-2

1-Amina Anshba/ Elena Pridankina (Rus) bt Riya Bhatia/ Zeel Desai (Ind) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). 

Final qualifying round:

Singles:

Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) bt Riya Bhatia (Ind) 6-1, 2-1 retd

Priska Madelyn Nugroho (Ina) bt Anastasia Tikhonova (Rus) 6-1, 1-6, 6-4

Janice Tjen (Ina) bt Mei Yamaguchi (Jpn) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3

Tina Nadine Smith (Aus) bt Saki Imamura (Jpn) 6-4, 6-2

Petra Marcinko (Cro) bt Alice Robbe (Fra) 7-5, 7-6 (10-8)

Iryna Shymanovich (Blr) bt Naho Sato (Jpn) 1-6, 7-5, 6-4

Maria Kozyreva (Rus) bt Fangran Tian (Chn) 5-7, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2

Daria Kudashova (Rus) bt Amina Anshba (Rus) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5.