Chennai Open WTA 250: Linette, Katie Swan reach quarterfinals

CHENNAI: Third-seeded Magda Linette of Poland thrashed Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-2, 6-0 to storm into the last-eight of the WTA Chennai Open 250 here on Thursday.

Linette was joined in the quarter-finals by Great Britain’s Katie Swan, a 7-6(5), 6-2 winner over Anastasia Gasanova. Swan overcame the challenge from the Russian, who gave it her all in the first set despite appearing to be injured. Linette will battle it out against Canada’s Rebecca Marino, the seventh seed, on Friday for a place in the semi-finals.

Later in the night, Nadia Podoroska of Argentina knocked out the fourth-seeded Tatjana Maria in a close three-setter. Podoroska won 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(6). The deciding set was a see-saw affair with fortunes fluctuating. Podoroska held serve to take a 6-5 lead and put the pressure on the German. However, Maria held on to push the set into a tie-breaker. And, she rushed to a 5-1 lead before the Argentine fought back and edged her out 8-6.

The singles draw had already seen the top-seed Alison Riske-Amritraj, beaten in Round 1 by Gasanova, No.5 Rebecca Peterson and No.6 Qiang Wang bow out.

Meanwhile, the Indian duo of Rutuja Bhosale and Karman Kaur Thandi were outclassed by the top-seeded Canadian-Brazilian duo of Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefanie 0-6, 3-6 to end the home interest in the 250 tournament.

RESULTS: Singles: Second round: M Linette bt O Selekhmeteva 6-2, 6-0; K Swan bt A Gasanova 7-6(5), 6-2; N Podoroska bt T Maria 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(6).

Doubles: Quarter-finals: G Dabrowski/L Stefanie bt R Bhosale/Karman 6-0, 6-3; P Plipuech/M Uchijima bt J Mikulskyte/E Webley-Smith 6-2, 6-0; A Blinkova/N Dzalamidze bt A Hartono/O Tjandramulia 3-6, 6-4, 10-5.