Shrivalli’s Heroic Fightback Falls Short; Sahaja Outclassed by Olympic Silver Medallist

India, Tamil Nadu, October 30, 2025: The Indian Singles challenge came to an end in R16 of the Chennai Open International Women’s Tennis Championships 2025, but not before Shrivalli Bhamidipaty produced a thrilling comeback attempt and Sahaja Yamalapalli battled gamely against superior opposition at the SDAT Tennis stadium in Chennai.

The afternoon started with the 2022 champion, Linda Fruhvirtová of the Czech Republic, taking on Janice Tjen of Indonesia. Linda got off to a confident start, winning the first set with ease. In the second, Janice found her rhythm and controlled the game, while Linda made several unforced errors to concede the set. Janice adjusted to the humid conditions better than Linda to win the third set and the match.

Donna Vekić, the Olympic silver medallist, of Croatia was too experienced for wildcard Sahaja Yamalapalli, India’s No. 1 player, and won in straight sets, 6–2, 6–2. Sahaja fought determinedly but could not match Donna’s strong all-round game.

The match that would have warmed all Indian hearts was the one between Kimberly Birrell of Australia and Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, India’s No. 2 player. Kimberly was in the driver’s seat at 5–1 in the first set when Shrivalli found her range, matching the Australian stroke for stroke and fighting her way back to level the scores at 5-all. The groundstrokes were powerful, the rallies scintillating, and it felt as though Shrivalli had a real chance.

In the ninth game, Shrivalli held serve on the eighth advantage point to trail 4–5. The tension was apparent as Kimberly served consecutive double faults and lost her service game to level the score at 5-all. Shrivalli served two aces and held the advantage but then double-faulted, which was a costly error. Kimberly then played two strong points to break serve, go ahead 6–5, and closed out the next game to win the first set 7–5.

The second set followed a similar pattern, with Kimberly going ahead 4–2 only for Shrivalli to level at 4-all. Both players traded two service breaks each to level score at 6-games all. In the tiebreak, Kimberly displayed her experience, moving ahead 5–1 aided by unforced errors from Shrivalli and closing out the tiebreak 7–2 to move into the quarterfinals.

On the outside courts, Arina Rodionova of Australia edged out compatriot Storm Hunter in a close third-set tiebreak. Polina Iatsenko defeated Katarzyna Kawa in two comfortable sets, while Joanna Garland took three hours and sixteen minutes to dispose of qualifier Mei Yamaguchi of Japan in three long sets.

In the last matches of the day 16-year-old Mia Pohankova, the Wimbledon girls’ champion and a wild card entrant, displayed maturity beyond her years to upset ninth seed Diane Parry of France in straight sets. Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand upset top seed Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey in a thrilling three-set match. Sonmez claimed the opening set, but Tararudee staged a strong comeback to win the next two sets. With this victory, Tararudee advances to the quarterfinals, where she will face Polina Iatsenko.

In doubles, young inexperienced pair Lakshmi Prabha Arunkumar and Diya Ramesh of India went down fighting 8–10 in the super tiebreak to the Italian pair Ekaterina Yashina and Anastasia Prozorova.

Singles Second Round

Lanlana Tararudee (THA) def [1] Zeynep Sonmez (TUR) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
[3] Donna Vekic (CRO) def. [WC] Sahaja Yamalapalli IND 6-2, 6-2
[4] Janice Tjen (INA) def. Linda Fruhvirtova (CZE) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
[7] Kimberly Birrell (AUS) def. [WC] Shrivalli Bhamidipaty (IND) 7-5, 7-6(2)
[WC] Mia Pohankova (SVK) def. [9] Diane Parry (FRA) 6-3, 6-4
Joanna Garland (TPE) def. [Q] Mei Yamaguchi (JPN) 5-7, 7-5, 7-5
[LL] Arina Rodionova (AUS) def. Storm Hunter (AUS) 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(9)
Polina Iatcenko def. Katarzyna Kawa (POL) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles First Round

[2] Aldila Sutjiadi (INA) / Janice Tjen def. Sofya Lansere / Priska Nugroho (INA) 2-6, 6-3, 12-10
Hiroko Kuwata (JPN) / Thasaporn Naklo (THA) def. [4] Arianne Hartono (NED) / Prarthana Thombare 6-3, 7-6(2)
Tatiana Prozorova / Ekaterina Yashina def. Lakshmi Prabha Arunkumar (IND) / Diya Ramesh (IND) 8-10 (super tiebreak)
Polina Iatcenko / Maria Timofeeva (UZB) vs. Caroline Werner (GER) / Sahaja Yamalapalli (IND)

About WTA:

The WTA is the original game-changer for women’s sport. Founded in 1973 by the visionary Billie Jean King, the WTA was created to build equal opportunities for women in tennis, and we’ve been breaking boundaries ever since. Today we’re the powerhouse of women’s professional sports, uniting athletes in fearless competition and bringing people together through the love of tennis. The Hologic WTA Tour shares the thrill of every serve, rally and match point with an audience of more than one billion around the world. Players compete for PIF WTA ranking points in tournament arenas on six continents before the season hits its peak at the WTA Finals, where the best singles and doubles superstars battle to be crowned as year-end champions. Our ambitions go well beyond the court. We are champions for our 1,600 incredible athletes and drivers of change through advocacy and action for women’s health and empowerment across the globe. Rally the world: wtatennis.com