India’s top-ranked singles player Ankita Raina scored a easy first round win in the Solapur Open on Tuesday while Rutuja Bhosale progressed to the doubles quarter-finals.
Raina came back after being 0-2 down in the first set to beat Jaqueline Adina Cristian of Romania 6-2, 6-1 in a match that lasted only 65 minutes. Meanwhile, Zeel Desai had no such luck as Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek won 6-2, 6-3 inside 80 minutes. Desai showed some grit, fighting back after being four games down to pocket three consecutive games in the second set.
Zidansek, though, was too strong for her opponent. India no 3 Pranjala Yadlapalli retired after losing the first set 2-6 to Japan’s Miyabi Inoue. Yadlapalli suffered a back injury. Two-time national champion Riya Bhatia got off to a fine start, defeating Anna Morgina of Russia 6-4, 6-3 in her first-round match.
Wildcard pair of Rutuja Bhosale and Kai-Lin Zhang China came back from two match points down in the super tie-breaker to edge out Georgia’s Mariam Bolkvadze and Uzbekistan’s Albina Khabibulina 3-6, 7-6(5), 11-9.
The Indo-Chinese pair have reached the quarter-finals. The singles second round featuring Raina, Bhosale, and Bhatia will be played on Wednesday.