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Qualifier Lakshmiprabha Arunkumar from Tamil Nadu showcased her immense talent with a stunning win over sixth-seeded Soha Sadiq of Karnataka in the first round of the $15,000 ITF Women’s World Tour event.

At the Mysore Tennis Club courts on Wednesday, the 19-year-old, handpicked by the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association into their ‘Next Level’ programme, outplayed her seasoned rival 6-2, 6-2 to set up a second-round meeting with fellow Indian Yashaswini Panwar.

It was also curtains for another Karnataka player, Kashvi Sunil. The 15-year-old qualifier had her chances but let an error-prone fourth seed, Riya Bhatia, off the hook. Riya, who kept complaining about a few line calls and even called the ITF supervisor on court after being handed a code violation, won 6-3, 7-5.

HARSHINI ADVANCES

However, wildcard entrant Harshini N Nagaraj from Bengaluru more than made up for the twin setbacks. The 17-year-old, playing her maiden ITF women’s event, did a Houdini act against qualifier Aditi Rawat.

Down 1-5 in the decider, the gritty Harshini saved two match points and rallied in splendid fashion against a tiring rival in energy-sapping heat for a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory in two hours and 25 minutes.

Showing maturity that belies her age, the Bengaluru teenager began in confident fashion against Aditi, engaging her in long rallies and forcing her opponent into errors. After taking the opening set, she erred at crucial junctures in the second set that Aditi capitalised on.

Aditi pocketed the second set and took a runaway lead in the decider. But Harshini held her nerve and staged a valiant fightback, reeling off six games in a row to make it a memorable debut. She takes on giant-killer Smriti Bhasin in the second round.

ERROR-PRONE

Earlier, coming into the event on the back of a doubles triumph at the Nationals last week, Soha struggled with her serve and committed far too many errors to play straight into Lakshmiprabha’s hands.

The Chennai girl, not looking a gift horse in the mouth, capitalised on the chances she got to seal her first win in three attempts at the senior level.

Results (Round 1, prefix denotes seeding, Indians unless mentioned):

Singles: Pooja Ingale bt Abhaya Vemuri 6-4, 6-3; Tanisha Kashyap bt Sejal Gopal Bhutada 6-4, 6-1; Yashaswini Panwar bt Apurva Vemuri 7-5, 6-2; Lakshmiprabha Arunkumar bt 6-Soha Sadiq 6-2, 6-2; Kaili Demi Teso (Jpn) bt Saumya Vig 6-1, 6-1; Polina Kaibekova (Rus) bt Kashish Bhatia 6-0, 2-6, 7-5; 4-Riya Bhatia bt Kashvi Sunil 6-3, 7-5; Harshini N Nagaraj bt Aditi Rawat 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Doubles: Smriti Bhasin/ Elena Jamshidi (Den) bt Sonal Patil/ Prisha Vyas (USA) 6-4, 6-4; Diva Bhatia/ Sai Samhitha bt Naomi Hagi (HK)/ Kaili Demi Teso (Jpn) 4-6, 6-3, 10-4; 2-Humera Baharmus/ Pooja Ingale bt Yashaswini Panwar/ Vanshita Pathania 7-6 (10-8), 6-4.

Caption: Pix-1 & 2: Bengaluru girl Harshini N Nagaraj makes a backhand return during her first-round win over Aditi Biswas at the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour event in Mysuru on Wednesday.

Pix-3 & 4: Qualifier Lakshmiprabha Arunkumar in action during her shock win over sixth-seeded Soha Sadiq in the first round at the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour event in Mysuru on Wednesday.