ITF Women's Open: Vaidehi advances to the second round of qualifiers

BENGALURU: Indian tennis player Vaidehi Chaudhari entered the second round of the singles qualifiers at the ITF Women's Open after thrashing Japan's Junri Namagata 6-2, 6-0 at the KSLTA Stadium.

Vaidehi, seeded ninth, did not even have to stretch herself for the win as a double break took her to win in the first set and she bettered it in the second set to wrap up the match comfortably, as per a press release from ITF Women's Open.

Vaidehi will now look to seal a place in the main draw when she plays the final qualifying match on Monday. She was the only Indian on Sunday to enter the second round of the qualifiers as the rest of the players suffered defeats.

A $40K event, which is a part of ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, is being hosted by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) in Bengaluru.

There was a mild shock as Hiroko Kuwata of Japan, who was top-seeded in the qualifiers, went down 2-6, 0-6 to Germany's Sarah Rebecca Sekulic. But Taipei's second-seeded player Lee Pei Chi had little trouble in warding off India's Humera Baharmus 6-3, 6-3.

The main draw will start from Tuesday as India's Karman Kaur Thandi, experienced Ankita Raina and promising 15-year-old Brenda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic will be seen in action.

Results (Indians only, qualifying R1)

Vaidehi Chaudhari beat Junri Namigata 6-2, 6-0;

Lee Pei Chi beat Humera Baharmus 6-3, 6-3;

Anchisa Chanta beat Prathiba Narayan Prasad 6-2, 6-1;

Jacqueline Cabaj Awad beat B Rashmikaa 6-1, 6-3;

Emily Welker beat Kashish Bhatia 6-4, 6-3;

Punnin Kovapitukted beat Soha Sadiq 7-5, 6-1.