Shrivalli goes down fighting; seeds Rodionova, Pigossi bow out of the Mumbai Open

Shrivalli Bhamidipaty’s dream run this week came to an end on Wednesday evening but not before the 22-year-old Indian out on a tremendous fight against 16-year-old Alina Korneeva, ranked more than 380 spots above her, at the L&T Mumbai Open WTA 125K Series Tennis Championships, being organized by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) and the Cricket Club of India (CCI).

Korneeva, the top-ranked junior last year and winner of two junior Grand Slams in 2023, bounced back from the loss of the first set to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 25 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals.

Earlier in the day, fourth seed Arina Rodionova and fifth seed Laura Pigossi bowed out of the singles event. Rodionova was defeated in straight sets by Dutchwoman Arianna Hartono 4-6, 4-6 while Pigossi was knocked out by Australia’s Storm Hunter 3-6, 3-6.

With this, the top five seeds of the tournament have failed to make it past the second round. Sixth seed Darja Semenistaja is now the highest seed left in the singles event as she advanced to the quarter-finals with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over France’s Amandine Hesse.

In the doubles draw, the Indian duo of Sahaja Yamalapalli/ Vaishnavi Adkar went down fighting to second seeds Sabrina Santamaria/ Dalila Jakupovic 3-6, 6-7.

Yamalapalli, who knocked out top seed Kayla Day in the first round, will be back in action on Thursday for her second round singles match against Polina Kudermetova.

L&T Mumbai Open WTA 125K Series Results, Wednesday February 7, 2024

Singles First Round
Arianne Hartono (NED) def. (4) Arina Rodionova (AUS) 6-4, 6-4
Storm Hunter (AUS) def. (5) Laura Pigossi (BRA) 6-3. 6-3
(6) Darja Semenistaja (LAT) def. Amandine Hesse (FRA) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
Alina Korneeva def. Shrivalli Bhamidipaty (IND) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4

Doubles First Round
(2) Sabrina Santamaria (USA)/ Dalila Jakupovic (SLO) def. Sahaja Yamalapalli (IND) / Vaishnavi Adkar (IND) 6-3, 7-6 (1)
Sapfo Sakellaridi (GRE)/ Olivia Tjandramulia (AUS)/ def Himeno Sakatsume (JPN)/ Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-3.
Panna Udvardy (HUN)/ Natela Dzalamidze (GEO) def. En-Shuo Liang (TPE)/ Chia Yi Tsao (TPE) 4-6, 6-4, 10-7
Ekaterina Yashina/ Carole Monnet (FRA)/ def. Sohyun Park (KOR)/ Zhibek Kulambayeva (KAZ)

About the L&T Mumbai Open WTA 125 Series

L&T Mumbai Open Tennis Championships is returning to Mumbai after a gap of six years, with reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka winning the inaugural edition in 2017 as a teenager and Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum winning the title in 2018.