India bids goodbye to WTA 250 as Vaishnavi, Sahaja, Maaya get one last shot at home

CHENNAI: With India set to lose its place on the WTA main Tour calendar, Vaishnavi Adkar, Sahaja Yamalapalli and Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi will have one final opportunity to make their mark on home soil when the third and last edition of the Chennai Open begins here Monday.

The three Indians, all reliant on wild cards to secure entry into the singles main draw, will be eager to turn the opportunity into valuable ranking points, knowing that the tournament represents the last edition of a WTA 250 event in the country, at least for now.

Ranked outside the top 300, the three are still some distance from earning direct entry into WTA 250 tournaments.

With their current rankings, opportunities to compete regularly at this level remain limited, making the Chennai Open an important test of their progress and ambitions.

But a home tournament and a wild card can only open the door. The challenge will be to produce the tennis to compete against a stronger international field and convert the opportunity into results.

Vaishnavi (ranked 334) and Sahaja (ranked 369) have spent much of the season competing on the ITF circuit, where the competition is a step below the WTA Tour.

Vaishnavi's 2026 campaign has included a final appearance at W35 event at Monastir, Tunisia in March and a semifinal run at W15 Tianjin tournament in August and a last-16 finish at the W50 Guiyang event in September, but she has also struggled to make deep runs consistently at higher-level ITF tournaments.

Sahaja, meanwhile, has had opportunities to test herself at the WTA 125 level, including appearances in Mumbai and Porto, but has found it difficult to progress against stronger opposition.

Her season included a final in W35 event in Wichita, semifinal appearances at W35 level in Rome and Decatur but also had early exits at several tournaments, although she has managed some encouraging results.

For 17-year-old Maaya, placed outside 500, the Chennai tournament comes at an interesting stage of her development.

She recently announced herself with her maiden professional singles title at the W35 Lagos tournament in October, defeating Spain's Celia Cervino Ruiz 6-4, 6-2 in the final without dropping a set throughout the tournament. She also won the doubles title in Lagos.

The achievement underlined her potential, but the jump to a WTA 250 main draw is considerable. Chennai will offer her one more opportunity to understand the demands of competing against established professionals and identify the areas of her game that need improvement.

For all three Indians, the challenge will be to make the most of their opportunity rather than merely treat the wild cards as a chance to feature in a home tournament.

No Indian has gone beyond round two in the last two editions -- in 2022 and 2025 -- and the home fans would hope it changes this year.

Vaishnavi will open her campaign against lower-ranked Britain's Jodie Burrage (471), while Sahaja faces Switzerland's Simona Waltert (128).

Maaya is up against Poland's eighth seed and world number 106 Katarzyna Kawa.

The field, meanwhile, has lost some of its initial strength following a series of withdrawals in the last few days.

Chennai was already facing a disadvantage compared to the WTA 250 tournament in Hong Kong being held in the same week, with the latter attracting a significantly stronger field featuring several top-50 players.

The situation has deteriorated further, with four players from the original direct-entry list and three from the qualifying roster withdrawing.

The withdrawals include Thailand's world No. 57 Lanlana Tararudee, Kazakhstan's world No. 67 Yulia Putintseva and Germany's world No. 70 Tatjana Maria, a former Wimbledon semifinalist.

The depleted field could make the task of defending champion Janice Tjen considerably more manageable.

The Indonesian, who won her maiden WTA singles title in Chennai last year with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Australia's Kimberly Birrell, will be looking to successfully defend the crown.

Interestingly, she has not won another singles title since that breakthrough triumph.

Tjen has continued to feature on the WTA Tour and reached a career-high ranking of 35 this year, but Chennai offers her an opportunity to end the season on a high and revisit the tournament that transformed her career.

The tournament's relatively open nature was also highlighted by Tamil Nadu Tennis Association president Vijay Amritraj during the draw ceremony.

"Frankly, anyone can win the tournament. It's wide open," he said, pointing out that hot and humid conditions in Chennai could play a significant role in determining the outcome.

"Fitness comes into question. It can be hot, it can be humid. There are a lot of issues that come into it as the girls play their matches," he said. PTI APS APS AH

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