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Bengaluru will be witnessing yet another week of exciting tennis at the Karnataka Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) Stadium as Dr Ekroop Caur, IAS, Secretary, Department of Finance (Budget), Government of Karnataka inaugurated the KPB Trust ITF Women's Open on Tuesday. The ceremony was also attended by the chief guest Mr KP Balaraj, Founder of KPB Family Trust along with Sunil Yajaman, Joint Secretary of KSLTA, and Peter Vijay Kumar, the Tournament Director.

The $40k tournament--organised by KSLTA, is part of the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour and it is sponsored by KPB Family Trust.

Top-rated India player Ankita Raina, who is seeded fourth in the tournament, will lead the Indian challenge in the singles field which also includes Brenda Fruhvirtova, the 15-year-old tennis sensation from Czech Republic. Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia, a former World No. 38, who has appeared in all the four Grand Slams, will headline the doubles competition.

Indian pair of Ankita Raina and Prarthana Thombare registered an impressive come-from-behind win to enter the doubles quarter-finals of the KPB Trust ITF Women’s Open at the KSLTA Stadium in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
 
The No. 2 seeded duo defeated the wildcard Indo-German pair of Sharmada Balu and Sarah Rebecca Sekulic 5-7, 6-3, 10-6 in a thrilling Round-of-16 match that lasted for close to two hours.

The third seeded Indo-Swedish pair of Rutuja Bhosale and Jacqueline Awad also advanced to the Last-8 stage after defeating Ji Hee Choi (South Korea) and Lee Ya-Hsuan (Taipei) 6-4, 6-2.

The on-going $40k tournament is part of the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour and it is hosted by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA).

The all-Indian pair of Pragathi Narayan and Prathiba Narayan, on the other hand, exited in the Round-of-16 following a 4-6, 2-6 defeat against Anastasia Kovaleva and Hanna Vinahradava.

A similar fate was in store for another all-Indian pair of Vaidehi Chaudhari and Shrivalli Rashmikaa who gave a tough fight to the fancied duo to Slovenia’s Dalilia Jakupovic, a former World No. 38, and Amandine Hesse of France before going down 6-7 (5), 7-5, 5-10.

Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by Dr Ekroop Caur IAS, Secretary, Department of Finance (Budget), Government of Karnataka in the presence of the chief guest KP Balaraj, Founder of KPB Family Trust along with Sunil Yajaman, Joint Secretary of KSLTA, and Peter Vijay Kumar, the Tournament Director.

Meanwhile, in the singles opening round, Japanese Ikumi Yamazaki stunned the third seeded Sakura Hosogi 5-7, 3-6. Bengaluru girl Sharmada, a wild card entrant, however, lost to No. 8 seed Eden Silva of Britain 2-6, 4-6.