New Delhi, Jan 7
Dishing out an impressive show, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi scored an upset win over world No. 60 Ada Kumru in the girls' singles event of the ITF J300 event, where top seed and title-favourite Yoana Konstantinova was also knocked out on Day Two of the tournament.
Hailing from Coimbatore, Maaya has been making good progress of late and she underlined her growth with a sensational 6-1, 7-6(1) win over the fourth seed from Turkiye in the opening round at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) Complex. The 15-year-old Maaya is ranked 139 in the world and recently joined the Rafael Nadal Academy. The ranking gulf was wide between the two players but Maaya's court coverage and shot selection stood out as she withstood a strong fightback from her experienced rival in the second round.
Maaya thus joined compatriots Rishitha Reddy Basireddy and Aishwarya Jadhav in the singles pre-quarterfinals. Konstantinova was one of the strong contenders but Naito, who is not ranked even in top-400, created a huge upset by beating her fancied rival 6-3 6-1.
The French second seed Eleejah Inisan also faced some stiff competition from Japan's Miaki Yamagishi before prevailing 7-6(4), 6-1. However, it turned out to be a disappointing day for India in the boys' event with all three players in action making the first-round exit.
Aarjun Pandit was up against top-seed Daniel Tazabekov and managed to win only two games. After being bageled in the opening set, Aarjun regrouped for a fight but the formidable Kazakh player walked out with a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 victory.
Similarly, Sehaj Singh Pawar suffered a tame 1-6, 1-6 defeat against Singapore's Maximus Zavier Wong but Arjun Rathi showed stomach for a fight before losing his opening round. Arjun pushed Latvia's Arturs Zagras before losing the contest 3-6, 6-7(3). Japan's Kanata Ozaki pushed out third seed Haydar Cem Gokipnar from Turkiye 6-4, 6-3.
- IANS