TENNIS | Shrivalli to face off against Dalila in singles final

Shrivalli Bhamidipaty and Vaidehi Chaudhari who won the doubles title in the ITF women’s tennis tournament in Indore on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan

Shrivalli Bhamidipaty was in vibrant form as she beat Polina Iatcenko 6-3, 6-4 to make the singles final and later combined nicely with Vaidehi Chaudhari to win the doubles title in the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis at the Indore Tennis Club on Saturday.

The 22-year-old Shrivalli fired seven aces and converted six of 14 break points to quell the Russian’s challenge. Polina, who had beaten Ankita Raina in the quarterfinals, did fight back, breaking serve four times to stay in the race, but Shrivalli was able to step up her game with fierce ground strokes that brooked little resistance.

In the final, Shrivalli will play second seed Dalila Jakupovic who patiently countered the crafty game of the small-built Mananchaya Sawangaew for a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory. The 32-year-old Dalila, who was ranked a career-best 69 in 2018, had won a double crown last week in Nagpur.

In the doubles final, Shrivalli and Vaidehi recovered from being down 1-3 to win 6-3, 7-5, against Ya-Hsuan Lee and Sohyun Park. Vaidehi played her part brilliantly after initially playing into the hands of the opponents who were pretty sharp.

It was the third title as a pair for Shrivalli and Vaidehi.

The results: Semifinals: Shrivalli Bhamidipaty bt Polina Iatcenko 6-3, 6-4; Dalila Jakupovic bt Mananchaya Sawangkaew 7-6(4), 6-3.

Doubles: Final: Shrivalli & Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Ya Hsuan Lee & Sohyun Park 6-3, 7-5.