CHANDIGARH, AUG 1
Fourth seed Shweta Rana and Anushka Bhargava, both of India, cleared their first round matches in the $10,000 ITF Women’s Tennis Tournament being played in Egypt.
Shweta Rana defeated another Indian Mahitha Dadi Reddy in straight sets 6-1, 6-0 while Anushka Bhargava caused a mild upset by beating eighth seed Russian Alina Mikheeva 6-2, 6-3.
American Kristi Boxx rallied beat Sowjanya Bavisetti (Ind) 3-6 6-2 6-1 while Japanese Kanami Tsuji defeated Shivika Burman (Ind) 6-1, 6-1. Second seeded Indian Rishika Sunkara was upset by Linda Prenkovic (Ger) 6-3, 6-3.
Rishika Sunkara, however, had the consolation of moving into doubles quarter-final. Rishika and Sowjanya Bavisetti ousted Alina Mikheeva (Rus) / Pauline Payet (Fra) 6-0, 7-5.
Results: Singles (Ist round): Kristi Boxx (USA) bt Sowjanya Bavisetti (Ind) 3-6 6-2 6-1 , Anushka Bhargava (Ind) bt Alina Mikheeva (Rus) [8] 6-2 6-3 , Kanami Tsuji (Jpn) bt Shivika Burman (Ind) 6-1 6-1, Shweta Rana (Ind) [4] bt Mahitha Dadi Reddy (Ind) 6-1 6-0 , Linda Prenkovic (Ger) bt Rishika Sunkara (Ind) [2] 6-3 6-3 .
Women’s doubles (P-q-final): Sowjanya Bavisetti (Ind) / Rishika Sunkara (Ind) [1] bt Alina Mikheeva (Rus) / Pauline Payet (Fra) 6-0 7-5 .