CHENNAI: There is no better day to be Rohan Bopanna. On Saturday, he got to witness history by Vaishnavi Adkar, his academy trainee and Rutuja Bhosale, with whom he had won mixed doubles gold at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. The duo, both from Maharashtra, became the first all-Indian pair to enter the final of a WTA tour-level event at the Chennai Open on Saturday.
The Indian second-seed pair recovered from a mid-match slump to prevail 6-2, 2-6, 10-8 against Weronika Falkowska of Poland and Alana Smith of the USA at the SDAT Tennis Stadium.
The duo were high on emotions considering what they went through earlier this week. While Vaishnavi had to deal with heartbreak in the singles event and an injury to her left thigh, Rutuja had to deal with illness during the tournament. “We blew a bit of the second set, and I didn't really know what happened because it was very close until two-all. We had a lot of deuce games, and they could have gone either way. I don't really know where it went wrong in the second set, but I really held my ground in the tiebreak and brought my energy towards the end. I'm battling a few injuries and got sick this week. We had no idea we were the first Indian pair, so it is something I will always remember,” Rutuja explained after the semifinal victory.
In the deciding super tie-break, Falkowska and Smith raced to a 3-0 lead, but the Indians fought back to stay alive. Rutuja produced a fine point but followed it with a double fault as the Indians slipped to 6-8. She then found a forehand winner, passing Smith to reduce the deficit. Then, Vaishnavi came up with winning points. Rutuja explained what went through their minds. “Super tiebreaks are very tricky — I've played a lot of them this year and I played with Veronica and Alana a couple of weeks ago. I knew they would go for their shots. The momentum shifted throughout the tiebreak, but our agenda today was to go for all our shots, and that really worked for us in the end,” she said.
On Sunday, they have the opportunity to show what the Chennai Open — in its final edition for the foreseeable future — could offer, by winning the title against the Swiss pair of Naima Karamoko and Simona Waltert. Before the tournament began, the license holders of this event had confirmed that the WTA 250 level Tour event will take place in Manila, Philippines, in a bid to capitalise on the growth of Alexandra Eala.
Results: Doubles SF: Rutuja/Vaishnavi bt Falkowska/Smith 6-2, 2-6, 10-8; Waltert/Karamoko bt Haverlag/Udvardy 6-4, 6-4.
