Coming off a splendid semifinal appearance in the first week of the year in Thailand, India No. 2 Sahaja Yamalapalli will look to carry that form into the $100,000 KPB Trust ITF Open that begins at the KSLTA courts here on January 21.

En route to the last-four stage, Sahaja, 24, stunned the No. 3 seed Han Shi of China as well as eighth-seeded American Maria Mateas. She had the top-seeded Kathinka von Deichmann at her mercy, before succumbing in three tough sets.

Playing some of her best tennis in recent times, Sahaja, ranked No. 315 in the world, hopes to build on her recent run of form in the biggest-ever ITF World Tennis Tour event in the country.

“It is always good when you are coming off a good run. It gives you that momentum, mentally also you are confident after having beaten some good players,” Sahaja said after a practice session at the KSLTA courts on Thursday.

“I feel I am ready to compete. I chose to come to KSLTA a week before to train. Overall, I am in a very good place and the momentum is helping me for the big tournament that will see a lot of good players competing,” she added.

Winner of four ITF titles, Sahaja is known for her solid groundstrokes and her aggressive game. The Hyderabadi expressed that staying focused helped her in Thailand. “I was mentally very focused which helped me be in the zone a little bit. That is why I played some really good tennis after a while,” she pointed out.

That’s the mindset Sahaja, who displaced Ankita Raina as India No. 1 briefly last September, is planning to go into the big-ticket event with next week. “I will be going in with a positive mindset, it doesn’t matter who I am going to play with,” she said.

Sahaja said that tournaments like these were crucial in terms of ranking and exposure. “It is very, very important because our (Indian) players don’t get the exposure of a 100k event. Only four or five players travel outside for bigger events, because that’s where you get a bigger jump in rankings. A few of the players who don’t travel outside for various reasons get wild cards and it gives them the exposure that playing against some of the top players brings,” she pointed out.