Sahaja Yamalapalli finishes runner-up at W35 Wichita; Builds on a season of quiet progress
India No. 1 Sahaja Yamalapalli navigated a full week of high-intensity action at the ITF W35 in Kansas — rain delays, a brutally long semifinal, and a competitive draw — to reach the title match as the fourth seed. The runner-up finish on Sunday is the punctuation mark on a week that demanded the best from her.
Her route to the final included a nearly three-hour semifinal against Yekaterina Dmitrichenko, which Yamalapalli came through 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 — the kind of match that tests everything: physical endurance, mental reset, and the ability to close when the deciding set seems to slip away. Sahaja came out with flying colours, having navigated an almost impossible comeback.
That semifinal win continued a pattern that has defined Yamalapalli’s relationship with this tournament. She had reached the semifinals at W35 Wichita in both 2024 and 2025. This year, she went one step further. The ceiling became the floor.
Sunday’s final against wild card Reese Brantmeier — a two-time ACC Player of the Year and reigning US college singles champion — was always going to be a stiff test. Yamalapalli, ranked WTA 360, lost a closely-contested first set and made Brantmeier work for the win.
With Sahaja’s first final of 2026 now behind her, the next one won’t feel as far away.
