Akanksha…big scalp.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Qualifier Akanksha Nitture knocked out the second seed Carlota Cirez of Spain 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in the second round of the $40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Ahmedabad Tennis Foundation courts on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old Akanksha served well and converted her third match point in a long drawn 12th game of the decider on the Spaniard’s serve to clinch her place in the third round.
It was a welcome return to good form for Akanksha who had failed to win a match in the first three international tournaments of the season so far. In fact, she had managed to win ten games in all.
Before meeting the second seed, Akanksha had not dropped a set in three matches in the current tournament. She will play compatriot Vaidehi Chaudhari in the pre-quarterfinals.
Ankita Raina beat Funa Kozaki of Japan for the loss of seven games to set up a third round against Sohyun Park of Korea.
Shrivalli Bhamidipaty had to fight her way past Humera Baharmus in three sets to set up her third round match against fifth seed Haruka Kaji of Japan.
The country’s best ranked player, Sahaja Yamalapalli, lost her way after winning the first set against Francesca Pace of Italy. https://nohu.win/ Our user-friendly platform and mobile app make it easy to place bets, track your results, and manage your account on the go.
The results:
Singles (second round): Arino Rodionova (Aus) bt Akiko Omae (Jpn) 6-1, 2-6, 6-3; Polina Iatcenko bt Anjali Rathi 6-2, 6-3; Francesca Pace (Ita) bt Sahaja Yamalapalli 4-6, 6-2, 6-4; Amandine Hesse (Fra) bt Smriti Bhasin 6-3, 6-3; Anastasia Gureva bt Mei Yamaguchi (Jpn) 6-4, 6-4; antonia Schmidt (Ger) bt Thasaporn Naklo (Tha) 7-6(11), 7-5; Daria Kudashova bt Zeel Desai 6-1, 6-1; Mariia Tkacheva bt Rinon Okuwaki (Jpn) 6-4, 6-4; Ankita Raina bt Funa Kozaki (Jpn) 6-3, 6-4; Sohyun Park (Kor) bt Kanako Morisaki (Jpn) 6-3, 6-1; Ekaterina Reyngold bt Clara Vlasselaer (Bel) 6-3 (retired); Maria Golovina bt Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-4; Haruka Kaji (Jpn) bt Vaishnavi Adkar 6-0, 6-2; Shrivalli Bhamidipaty bt Humera Baharmus 3-6, 7-5, 6-3; Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Honoka Kobayashi (Jpn) 6-1, 6-3; Akanksha Nitture bt Carlota Cirez (Esp) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Riya Bhatia & Ekaterina Yashina bt Diana Marcinkevica (Lat) & Francesca Pace (Ita) 7-5, 2-6, [10-4]; Ankita Raina & Vaishnavi Adkar bt Priyanshi Bhandari & Anjali Rathi 6-3, 6-1; Michika Ozeki (Jpn) & Sohyun Park (Kor) bt Pranjala Yadlapalli & Sahaja Yamalapalli 5-7, 6-3, [10-6]; Zeel Desai & Rinon Okuwaki (Jpn) bt Daria Kudashova & Kira Pavlova 6-1, 6-3; Bunyawi Thamchaiwat & Thasaporn Naklo (Tha) bt Polina Iatcenko & Maria Tkacheva 6-2, 6-4; Shrivalli Bhamidipaty & Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Aarushi Raval & Saily Thakkar 6-1, 6-0; Akiko Omae & Ikumi Yamazaki (Jpn) bt Pooja Ingale & Soha Sadiq 6-0, 6-1; Ekaterina Makarova & Ekaterina Reyngold bt Funa KOzaki & Kanako Morisaki (Jpn) 1-6, 7-6(4), [11-9].
Published – February 26, 2025 06:49 pm IST