<p>Bengaluru: Vaishnavi Adkar, Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty and Sahaja Yamalapalli were the final three Indians keeping home hopes alive at the KPB Trust ITF Women’s Open W100 on Thursday.</p>.<p>At the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium, the trio’s contests ended with contrasting results against their higher-ranked international opponents. While Sahaja lost steam and withered away rather easily, Shrivalli fell behind, fought back before coming up short again. In between these two encounters of opposite nature, it was Vaishnavi who kept the flame alive with a deserving win.</p>.<p>The wildcard entrant took a beating and survived anxious moments, but undeterred, she tossed every ounce of her energy to come out unscathed.</p>.<p>Ranked 690 in the world, Vaishnavi lost her serve twice in the opening set to help a disciplined Mai Hontama of Japan (world No. 220) win it 6-2. The script of the second set was predicted to be much the same, but the 21-year-old Vaishnavi broke Mai in the second game to set the tone for a remarkable comeback. </p><p>The Indian levelled the proceedings to claim the second 6-4. Locked in rallies that swung back and forth, Vaishnavi and Mai stepped into a tie-breaker to decide who the better of the two is on the day. A couple of clutch forehands by the local girl and a few unforced errors by the Japanese saw Vaishnavi win the set 7-6 (8) and clinch the tense two-hour and 49-minute battle to advance to the quarterfinal. </p>.ITF Women’s Open W100: Sahaja fights back to advance .<p>“Every point matters in a tie-break. No matter what the score is, you can always come back. I was 2-5 down and I came back. I took it one point at a time, stayed in the present and it worked for me,” said Vaishnavi, who is playing in her first W100 event. </p>.<p>Earlier, in the first match of the day, the wide gap in the ranking and game between the top-seeded Talia Gibson (ranked 111) of Australia and India No. 1 Sahaja (WR 416) was more than prominent. Needing a mere 58 minutes, Talia double bageled her clueless opponent 6-0, 6-0 to send a warning to the rest of the field. </p>.<p>For the 543rd-ranked Shrivalli, Belgium’s 124th-ranked Hanne Vandewinkel was a barrier she almost broke through. The 24-year-old Hyderabadi got overpowered 2-6 before she survived the European’s challenge to win the second 7-6 (7). With dwindling reserves in the tank and Hanne making little to no mistakes, Shrivalli succumbed 1-6 in a contest that ended in two hours 29 minutes. </p>.<p>Three Indians took to court on day three of main draw action, but it will be only Vaishnavi to be the only one carrying the hosts’ flag among the eight women from across the world who remain. </p>
<p>Bengaluru: Vaishnavi Adkar, Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty and Sahaja Yamalapalli were the final three Indians keeping home hopes alive at the KPB Trust ITF Women’s Open W100 on Thursday.</p>.<p>At the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium, the trio’s contests ended with contrasting results against their higher-ranked international opponents. While Sahaja lost steam and withered away rather easily, Shrivalli fell behind, fought back before coming up short again. In between these two encounters of opposite nature, it was Vaishnavi who kept the flame alive with a deserving win.</p>.<p>The wildcard entrant took a beating and survived anxious moments, but undeterred, she tossed every ounce of her energy to come out unscathed.</p>.<p>Ranked 690 in the world, Vaishnavi lost her serve twice in the opening set to help a disciplined Mai Hontama of Japan (world No. 220) win it 6-2. The script of the second set was predicted to be much the same, but the 21-year-old Vaishnavi broke Mai in the second game to set the tone for a remarkable comeback. </p><p>The Indian levelled the proceedings to claim the second 6-4. Locked in rallies that swung back and forth, Vaishnavi and Mai stepped into a tie-breaker to decide who the better of the two is on the day. A couple of clutch forehands by the local girl and a few unforced errors by the Japanese saw Vaishnavi win the set 7-6 (8) and clinch the tense two-hour and 49-minute battle to advance to the quarterfinal. </p>.ITF Women’s Open W100: Sahaja fights back to advance .<p>“Every point matters in a tie-break. No matter what the score is, you can always come back. I was 2-5 down and I came back. I took it one point at a time, stayed in the present and it worked for me,” said Vaishnavi, who is playing in her first W100 event. </p>.<p>Earlier, in the first match of the day, the wide gap in the ranking and game between the top-seeded Talia Gibson (ranked 111) of Australia and India No. 1 Sahaja (WR 416) was more than prominent. Needing a mere 58 minutes, Talia double bageled her clueless opponent 6-0, 6-0 to send a warning to the rest of the field. </p>.<p>For the 543rd-ranked Shrivalli, Belgium’s 124th-ranked Hanne Vandewinkel was a barrier she almost broke through. The 24-year-old Hyderabadi got overpowered 2-6 before she survived the European’s challenge to win the second 7-6 (7). With dwindling reserves in the tank and Hanne making little to no mistakes, Shrivalli succumbed 1-6 in a contest that ended in two hours 29 minutes. </p>.<p>Three Indians took to court on day three of main draw action, but it will be only Vaishnavi to be the only one carrying the hosts’ flag among the eight women from across the world who remain. </p>