Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee advanced to the second round of the L&T Mumbai Open WTA 125 with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory over India’s Sahaja Yamalapalli at the Cricket Club of India on Monday.
India No. 1 Sahaja began well, winning the opening game in quick time. However, Tararudee quickly bounced back, capitalising on Sahaja’s errors. The Thai’s powerful returns and precise forehands helped her take a 3-1 lead.
Sahaja responded with a solid baseline game to make the scoreline 3-2. After a marathon sixth game which lasted more than 15 minutes, Sahaja equalised. The Indian, however, couldn’t sustain the momentum and Tararudee regained control to take the set 6-3.
In the second, Sahaja adopted a strategy of playing closer to the net, catching Tararudee off-guard. Despite falling behind, she broke her opponent’s serve and went on to level the match.
The decider saw Tararudee shift gears. Her well-placed volleys often caught a tired Sahaja on the wrong foot as the World No. 175 raced to the finish.
Earlier in the day, the top-seeded German Tatjana Maria, a semifinalist at Wimbledon 2022, had to withdraw before her opening round match against Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic because of illness.
Croatia’s Petra Marcinko took her place but Krunic knocked her out in straight sets.
The results (first round): Rebecca Marino (Can) bt Sara Bejlek (Cze) 6-0, 6-2; Mananchaya Sawangkaew (Tha) bt Dalila Jakupovic (Slo) 6-3, 6-1; Aleksandra Krunic (Srb) bt Petra Marcinko (Cro) 6-4, 6-2; Lanlana Tararudee (Tha) bt Sahaja Yamalapalli 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
Published – February 04, 2025 12:16 am IST