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Jagmeet Kaur Grewal caused the first flutter of the tournament ousting the fancied fifth seed Mihika Yadav in a duel that lasted for nearly two hours to make it to the pre-quarterfinals of the US$ 15K KSLTA ITF Women’s World Tour Championship that got underway at the KSLTA stadium here on Tuesday. In a first round fixture the 19-year-old from Delhi won 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 to advance to the next round where she will meet the winner of the third seed Sowjanya Bavisetti-Snehal Mane bout slated for tomorrow.

Meanwhile Soha Sadiq brought cheers to the local crowd when she outplayed American Shria Atturu in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the last 16 stage. Joining her was seventh seed So-Ra Lee of Korea who went past Ramya Natarajan 6-4, 6-2 while Vaidhehi Chaudhari outwitted Nidhi Chilumula 6-2, 6-2 in the last singles match of the day.

Jagmeet, a wild card entrant, admitted that she had to adjust to the bounce due to the altitude. However this did not show in her game as she was fast and furious to unsettle her opponent who struggled to return to the other side of the court in the initial stages of the match. With breaks in the second and fourth, Jagmeet, raced to a 4-0 lead before Mihika showed signs of recovery winning the next two games. However, her opponent returned the favour to wrest the first set.

The next set a reversal of roles as Mihika with renewed energy made her rival scramble for the ball on both the flanks and was off to a 4-0 lead with breaks in the second and fourth. The players then held their respective serves as the match went into the decider. It was a different Jagmeet in the final set as she served better and moved faster and also augmented by her opponent’s double faults at crucial junctures went 5-0 up before Mihika made a fightback trail, saving a match point on her serve. Serving for the match, Jagmeet double faulted twice to lose the game and Mihika held her serve at love, only to prolong the inevitable.

Soha who had won the Rs 1-lakh Women’s Open in October, pierced through the defence of her rival earning her a speedy 4-1 lead before capturing the set. The Bengalurean played some attacking tennis throughout the match and especially put her forehand to good use which pierced through the defence of Shria. The American could just managed to hold her serve in the first and seventh game of the first set and the first and fifth in the second as Soha just breezed into the pre-quarters comfortably.

Results (All Indians except where mentioned in brackets)

Women’s Singles Round of 32

Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Nidhi Chilumula 6-2, 6-2; Shria Atturu (USA) lost to Soha Sadiq 2-6, 2-6; Ramya Natarajan lost to 7-So-Ra Lee (Kor) 4-6, 2-6; WC-Jagmeet Kaur Grewal bt 5-Mihika Yadav 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

Women’s doubles Round of 16

Sonashe Bhatnagar/Bela Tamhankar lost to 4-Sharmada Balu/Sravya Shivani Chilakapudi 3-6, 2-6; Arthi Muniyan/Akanksha Dileep Nitture lost to Humera Baharmus/Shrivalli Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty 1-6, 2-6; 3-Nidhi Chilumula/Snehal Mane lost to Sai Samhitha Chamarthi/Sadiq Soha 4-6, 1-6; Shria Atturu (USA)/Niditra Rajmohan bt WC-Pragathi Narayan Prasad/Prathiba Narayan Prasad 7-6 (4), 6-4; Ramya Natarajan/Saumya Vig bt WC-Priyanshi Bhandari/Reshma Maruri 6-2, 6-2; Smriti Bhasin/Shreya Tatavarthy lost to Vaidehi Chaudhari/Mihika Yadav 4-6, 2-6; 1-Sowjanya Bavisetti/Rutuja Bhosale bt Yubarani Banerjee/Jagmeet Kaur Grewal 6-0, 6-2; Pooja Ingale/Prathyusha Rachapudi lost to 2-So-Ra Lee (Kor)/Sathwika Sama 5-7, 1-6.