End of the road for all the Indians in singles

It was a sombre day for the Indian contingent at the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) courts on Tuesday, as all four home players bowed out in the round-of-32 in the L&T Mumbai Open 125K series.

Sahaja Yamalapalli, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, Vaishnavi Adkar and Maaya Rajeshwaran fell woefully short, leaving the handful of faithful to rue the day’s play.

Vaishnavi emerged as the most competitive of the quartet, engaging Austria’s Lilli Tagger in prolonged baseline rallies and threading precise groundstrokes off both wings. The 21-year-old Indian showcased depth and consistency, redirecting pace and attempting to dictate rallies from the back of the court.

Yet, Tagger seized control at pivotal moments, combining superior court coverage with well-timed net-rushing to finish points and pressuring Vaishnavi into errors.

Close affair

The opening set remained tight until the closing stages, when Tagger opened up the court with acute cross-court angles, drawing errors from Vaishnavi and securing a decisive late break to take it 7-5.

In the second, she amplified her aggression, firing punishing aces down the T, mixing crisp forehand volleys with skidding backhand slices, and dictating the rallies from start to finish, before closing out the match with a 6–4 set win.

Later in the day, last year’s semifinalist Maaya Rajeshwaran went down 3-6, 2-6 to last season’s quarterfinalist, Lanlana Tararudee.

The Thai imposed herself early with depth from the baseline, using heavy top-spin forehands, sharp returns and precise shot placement to repeatedly break Maaya’s serve, leaving the Indian with little opportunity to mount a comeback.

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