Chennai, Oct 17: The promising Indian youngster Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi and Sahaja Yamalapalli have been given wildcard entry to the Chennai Open International Women’s Tennis Championship to be held here from October 27 to November 2.
The 16-year-old Maaya has been making waves in junior circuit after appearing in junior Grand Slams at Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.
While she was ousted in the first round at Paris, the Coimbatore girl reached the second round in London, a feat she repeated in New York.
She has been training at the prestigious Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Spain, since February.
Maaya also showed her promise while winning the Grade 2 ITF event in Gladbeck, Germany, in June, beating Switzerland’s Noella Manta 6-2, 6-4.
It was her seventh title in the juniors.
The 24-year-old Sahaja reached the doubles semifinal along with Jessica Gomez of Mexico in an ITF event in Mexico.
Other wildcard entrants in the event are Slovakia’s Mia Pohankova and France’s Lois Boisson.
The reigning Queen’s Club champion Tatjana Maria of Germany will be the top seed in the tournament.
Maria defeated America’s Amanda Anisimova in the final in London, and, at 37, she became the oldest WTA 500 champion.
But the current world No. 42 will have some tough competition in the WTA 250 event here from 20-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova of Czech Republic, world No. 69 Donna Vekic of Croatia, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist and Olympic silver medallist, and Lulu Sun of New Zealand, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist last year.
Legendary Vijay Amritraj, President TNTA and Chairman of the Organising Committee underlined the importance of conducting this prestigious tournament in India.
“As I have said many times before, such an event is hugely imperative for the development of Indian players and promotion of tennis. Such an event boosts training and tournament activity, which augurs well for the game,” said Amritraj.
In addition to above mentioned players, rising stars on the women’s tour including 19-year-old Nikola Bartunkova (Czech Republic), 21-year-old Maria Timofeeva (Russia), and 21-year-old Barbora Palicova (Czech Republic) will also be seen in action.
India’s Karman Kaur Thandi, who reached the second round in the last edition in 2022, is a direct entrant into the qualifying draw.
In the doubles event, Storm Hunter of Australia and Monica Niculescu of Romania will be the top seeds while the all-Indonesian pair of Aldila Sutjiadi and Janice Tjen are the second seeds.
There will be plenty of Indian interest as five Indian players will appear in the doubles main draw.
Ankita Raina will partner Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, Rutuja Bhosale will be playing alongside Riya Bhatia and Prarthana Thombare will play with Arianne Hartono of the Netherlands and they will be seeded fourth. (PTI)
