Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi Makes History At Chennai Open

Seventeen-year-old Indian wildcard Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 250 Chennai Open, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to make it to the last eight of a WTA Tour singles event.

RevSportz reported that she defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3 at the SDAT Stadium in Nungambakkam. com. The last Indian to do so was Sania Mirza in Pattaya City in 2012. Indo-American Shikha Uberoi had also made the last eight at WTA level in 2005.

Match details

The duo traded breaks in the first set, but at 5-4, Maaya broke her opponent once again to seal it. Under the floodlights on Centre Court, Falkowska struggled to hold her serve and was troubled by double faults. Maaya converted her second set point.

The second set also saw the two players trade breaks before Maaya served for the match. She raced to a 40-0 lead, but her opponent saved two match points, including one with a backhand winner.

Maaya kept her composure and closed out the set and match on her third match point with a fine serve down the T. Maaya served six aces but committed five double faults, with a first-serve percentage of around 51 per cent.

Background

Maaya, who trains at the Elite Tennis Centre after leaving the Nadal Academy in September, had earlier beaten World No. 115 Katarzyna Kawa in the first round. IndiaSportsHub said she arrived in Chennai without a main-draw win at this level. in reported.

Last month, the prodigy clinched her maiden professional singles title at an ITF event in Lagos, beating Cervino Ruiz 6-4, 6-2 in the final. Last year, she reached the semi-finals of the WTA 125 event in Mumbai.

What happens next

Maaya will now face USA's Robin Montgomery in the quarter-finals, RevSportz reported. She is two victories away from a potential WTA 250 final, IndiaSportsHub said. No start time for the next match was given in the sources.

com quoted her as saying recognition is nice in a country like India, but it comes down to tennis. "I think it is part of an athlete's career. There are certain things that need to be done and it is always nice to get help.

It is always nice to get recognition. In a country like India, it is definitely really nice to actually have some recognition," she said.

Key figures from Maaya's run

Related on Apex Sports News

• Jodie Burrage receives death threats after Chennai Open first-round defeat

• WTA Chennai Open: Maaya and Vaishnavi post maiden victories on Tour

• Harriet Dart beats Lilli Tagger to win first WTA title at Guangzhou Open

Sources

• RevSportz

• rediff.com

• Photo: Ashok666, CC BY-SA 2.0 (Flickr)