Chennai Open 2026: Vaishnavi bows out after second-round loss to Anastasia; Linette advances

Vaishnavi Adkar went down 6-3, 6-0 to Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova after a competitive opening set, while third seed Magda Linette advanced to the quarterfinals.

Updated : Nov 05, 2026 22:53 IST , CHENNAI - 3 MINS READ

Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova returns a shot against Vaishnavi Adkar during their Round of 16 women’s singles match. | Photo Credit: RAGU R

Vaishnavi Adkar fought admirably for the first set before being blown away in the second as she lost 6-3, 6-0 to Anastasia Zakharova in the second round of the WTA 250 Chennai Open on Thursday.

Vaishnavi, one of the three Indian wild cards, had the challenging task of following up her gritty maiden Tour-level win over Britain’s Jodie Burrage, and she was up for it in the initial stages of her battle against World No. 107 Zakharova under the floodlights on Centre Court at the SDAT Stadium in Nungambakkam here.

But the Russian’s superior movement and a lethal backhand put the Indian consistently under pressure.

After being broken in the third game in the opener, the 21-year-old Vaishnavi drew Zakharova into a long deuce game immediately. The Russian, however, managed to consolidate the break.

Another lengthy deuce game followed, and once again, the 24-year-old Zakharova edged the Indian World No. 344 to extend her advantage.

ALSO READ | WTA Chennai Open: Seven first-round exits later, Magda Linette is back in the quarterfinals

In the fifth game, Vaishnavi upped her aggression and raced to a 40-0 lead on the Russian’s serve, hitting cracking down-the-line return winners from both wings. But yet again, she failed to take her chances.

Down 2-5, the Indian was forced to take a medical timeout before playing the rest of the match with strapping on her left thigh.

“I wouldn’t really call it an injury. It was just a niggle that I felt, especially during the running shots. I just got a jerk near my hip that was bothering me a bit but I’ll be fine. I still have my doubles quarterfinals,” said Vaishnavi after the match.

With her movement now restricted, Vaishnavi started swinging freely and it worked briefly as she finally converted her seventh break point. But any hopes of a comeback were doused by the Russian, who broke back straight away to clinch the 59-minute opener.

“The first set was pretty close. The intensity was pretty high. The majority of the games went into deuce. I had my chance but she capitalised really well. Especially on the crucial points, she just went for her shots. I struggled a bit with that and she came out really strong,” reflected the Indian.

Vaishnavi’s level and body language dropped drastically in the second essay (she won just four out of 26 points), which lasted just 23 minutes.

𝐌𝐚𝐚𝐲𝐚 𝐑𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐢 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 🤯 The 17-year-old Indian wild card defeated Polish qualifier Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3 to storm into the quarterfinals of the WTA 250 tournament. She becomes the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza at Pattaya in 2012 to reach a Tour-level quarterfinal 👏 📸: Ragu R #ChennaiOpen

— Sportstar (@sportstarweb) November 4, 2026

Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi, the only Indian left in the draw, will face left-handed American Robin Montgomery in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Earlier, third-seeded Pole and World No. 68 Magda Linette survived a close first set before knocking out Japanese World No. 123 Moyuka Uchijima 7-6(5), 6-0.

The 34-year-old Linette, former World No. 19 and 2023 Australian Open semifinalist, had been going through a rough patch in recent months with seven first-round exits since her semifinal finish at the WTA 250 event in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, in June.

The run to the last-eight stage (only her fourth Tour-level quarterfinal of the year) in Chennai, however, isn’t a total surprise. In the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2022, Linette had made it all the way to the final before losing to Czech teenager Linda Fruhvirtova.

Editorial note: The original wording, paragraph structure, match details and quotes have been retained. Only minor punctuation and grammatical corrections have been made, including removing the unnecessary article before “strapping”.