ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour: Top seed Nigina, Vaidehi crash out in day of upsets

Bengaluru: Thursday was a day of upsets in the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour event, as four seeded players were sent packing in the round-of-16 on the clay courts of the Bowring Institute here.

Zeel Desai provided the biggest shock result, as she defeated top seed Nigina Abduraimova 6-4, 6-4. 

National Champion Rashmikaa Shrivalli Bhamidipaty defeated fourth seed Vaidehi Chaudhari 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in a marathon encounter that lasted just under three hours. Vaishnavi Adker powered past eighth-seed Punnin Kovapitukted from Thailand 6-3, 7-6 (1).

However, it was smooth sailing for second-seed Lanlana Tararudee and third-seed Rutuja Bhosale, both notching up straight-sets wins en-route to the quarterfinals. 

The plucky Zeel Desai proved a tough nut to crack for Nigina Abduraimova. Zeel began dominating rallies with her groundstrokes, and the error-prone Nigina wilted under the afternoon sun. 

After clinching the first set 6-4, Zeel fought back from a break down in the second set to stun the Uzbek player.

"I think this is the best win of my career. She (Nigina) plays really well. I was pumped and really wanted to beat her. She felt more pressure for sure and I played my natural game," Zeel told DH after her win. 

"My coach knows her (Nigina) a bit, and he asked me to focus on some things which I implemented. 

"Today, I was clinical in executing the strategies when I had break points, and that was the turning point," the 24-year-old from Ahmedabad added.

2023 has been a positive year for Zeel, with two wins in ITF US$ 15,000 women’s tennis tournaments in Jhajjar and Tunisia. But despite this, her rise up the rankings has stagnated.

"Many times I have to defend my (ITF ranking) points, but I don't perform that well when points are there to be added. Hence my ranking has not been high," Zeel, who has been working with Alexander Waske Tennis University and Boris Becker Academy, explained. 

Zeel will face German Antonia Schmidt in the quarterfinals. Antonia got the better of sixth-seeded Swiss player Jenny Duerst.

Earlier in the day, it was National Champion Rashmikaa Shrivalli Bhamidipaty who set the template with a win over fourth seed Vaidehi Chaudhari.

A set and a break down, Rashmikaa was staring at defeat. But she found the resolve and forced a decider with a second break at 6-5.

Rashmikaa grew in confidence point by point, always finding a way out whenever her back was against the wall, and varied her serves well. Two consecutive winners resulted in a break and a 5-3 lead in the third set.

Vaidehi forced a break point in the next game, and following an impressive rally, broke back through Rashmikaa’s unforced error.

In a similar fashion to the second set, Rashmikaa broke Vaidehi’s serve while leading 6-5 to nab the decider.

They teamed up in doubles to down Kashish Bhatia and Vanshita Patania 6-0, 6-3 to qualify for the semifinal.

Making a return to the professional set-up after over 20 months, Pranjala Yadlapalli was no match for the in-form third seed Rutuja Bhosale, who clinched the tie 6-4, 6-3. 

The 24-year-old from Guntur came close to a break in the second set, and held a 0-40 advantage, but Rutuja, still recovering from an illness, fought back and rode the momentum to bag victory with a double break. 

Results (All Indians unless mentioned; prefix denotes seeding): Women’s singles (Round of 32): Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty bt 4-Vaidehi Chaudhari 4-6, 7-5, 7-5; 3-Rutuja Bhosale bt Pranjala Yadlapalli 6-4, 6-3; 2-Lanlana Tararudee (THA) bt Suhitha Maruru 6-1, 6-1; Antonia Schmidt (GER) bt 6-Jenny Duerst (SUI) 6-3, 6-4; Vaishnavi Adkar bt 8-Punnin Kovapitukted (THA) 6-3, 7-6 (1); Zeel Desai bt 1-Nigina Abduraimova (UZB) 6-4, 6-4; 5- Zhibek Kulambayeva (KAZ) bt Q-Pooja Ingale 6-1 6-3; 5-Diletta Cherubini bt Anna Ureke 7-6 (2), 6-7 (7), 6-4.

Doubles (Quarterfinals): 1-Rutuja Bhosale/Zhibek Kulambayeva (KAZ) bt Pooja Ingale/Sandeepti Singh Rao 6-2, 6-0; 3-Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty/Vaidehi Chaudhari bt WC-Kashish Bhatia/Vanshita Pathania 6-0, 6-3;  2-Jenny Duerst (SUI)/Ekaterina Yashina Vs. Diletta Cherubini (ITA)/Antonia Schmidt (GER) (stopped due to rain and bad light); 4-Punnin Kovapitukted (THA)/Anna Ureke Vs. Sai Samhitha Chamarthi/Soha Sadiq (stopped due to rain and bad light).