MUMBAI: Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi came into the L&T Mumbai Open unranked. Check the live WTA rankings now and you will see the promising 15-year-old’s name in 645th spot after she marched into the semifinals of the WTA 125K tournament at the Cricket Club of India here on Friday.
Taking on the 285th-ranked Japanese qualifier Mei Yamaguchi in the quarterfinals, Maaya, not for the first time this week, showed why she is regarded as one of India’s bright, young tennis hopes, as she overcame a second-set wobble to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in just under two hours.
To put her victory in context, she is the first Indian female to get this far in a WTA tournament at home in singles since Sania Mirza won a Tour event in her home city of Hyderabad in 2005 — over four years before Maaya was born. And to think that she hadn’t actually planned to play in Mumbai to begin with!
Having received a wild card to the qualifiers here, Maaya, who recently joined the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, hasn’t looked back. From earning six ranking points by virtue of winning her two qualifying matches, the Coimbatore teenager has gone on to amass an additional 49 points as a result of her now reaching the semifinals.
“It means a lot,” she said, reserving a word of thanks for tournament director Sunder Iyer. “MSLTA and Sunder sir, they gave me this opportunity. I’m really grateful for that, and it all started from there. As I said, wasn’t part of the plan, but they trusted me and gave me an opportunity, and here it is now.”
Indeed. Though when she double-faulted to hand Yamaguchi the second set in a game where she was 40-15 up, the outcome of the match was very much in the balance. But Maaya felt she was prepared after coming through both qualifying matches in three sets.
“It’s the third third-set victory this week, and all three of them, I took the first and lost the second. So this is not something new for me,” she said, confidently stating that she didn’t feel the need to recalibrate. “The moment I lost the second set, I knew I had to go all out in the third. And whenever I do that, if I get my legs going, I’ll be winning the third set.”
While the 25-year-old Japanese began the match stronger of the two, she would suddenly lose rhythm on her serve, allowing Maaya to claw her way back from a 1-3 deficit and clinch the opening set.
The second set saw Yamaguchi, playing with a tightly-strapped right thigh, rediscover the sting in her forehand as well as raise her first serve percentage which helped her put pressure on the young Indian. Just as Maaya had done in the opening set, Yamaguchi would break the Indian’s serve for three consecutive games to even the match.
But her challenge fizzled in the deciding set, as an exquisite crosscourt backhand winner followed by a crushing forehand return gave Maaya the double break.
On Saturday, the fifth seed Jil Teichmann of Switzerland awaits the teenager in the semifinals. Teichmann had extinguished any hope of seeing an all-Indian last four battle when she outclassed Shrivalli Bhamidipaty 6-2, 6-2 earlier in the day.
“It’s a very tough match, but it should be the toughest match of the week for me. And she’s a lefty too. I just hope to compete well, no pressure on me,” said Maaya.
Thombare-Hartono back in doubles final
India’s top-ranked woman doubles player Prarthana Thombare and Dutch partner Arianne Hartono earned themselves another crack at the title here, as they fought back to beat the British-Russian pairing of Eden Silva and Anastasia Tikhonova 2-6, 6-4, 10-2 in the semifinal on Friday. Thombare and Hartono finished runners-up last year, losing to Dalila Jakupovic and Sabrina Santamaria in the final.