Sahaja Yamalapalli storms past top seed Carlota Cirez

Sahaja Yamalapalli defeats top seed with fierce forehand in $30,000 ITF women's tennis tournament at Baliyawas.

Sahaja Yamalapalli sustained an attacking game, unleashing fierce forehand, to out-gun top seed Carlota Cirez of Spain 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the $30,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament at the Tennis Project, Baliyawas, on Wednesday.

On a day when the gusty winds caused havoc at the arena, scattering everything around, the 24-year-old Sahaja candidly observed that the wind was not blowing in anyone’s favour.

“It was tough conditions, but it was same for everyone. We had to adapt, and I am happy with the way I was able to execute our game plan,” said Sahaja.

Accompanied by Spanish coach Pau Martin Sole with whom she had been working from the recent $100,000 event in Bengaluru, where she had reached the quarterfinals, Sahaja said that the focus was to consistently play a high quality game irrespective of the opponent or score, with the sole aim of getting to the next level.

In the pre-quarterfinals, Sahaja will play Vaidehi Chaudhari who was equally explosive in dismissing qualifier Shruti Ahlawat for the loss of one game.

“Shruti played great in three matches, pulling it off with courage, with only three weeks of training. She ran out of fuel today. She had good work ethic now, and is quite aware of what needs to be done,” said coach Namita Bal who had helped Shruti tackle competition with confidence after having been out of the circuit for more than two years owing to a back injury.

Ankita Raina bounced back after losing the first set to tame Riya Bhatia 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. She will play Zeel Desai, who was quite smart in easing her way past Clara Vlasselaer of Belgium for the loss of five games.