Vaishnavi Adkar, Sahaja Yamalapalli and Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi Eye Breakthrough At Final Chennai Open

Vaishnavi, Sahaja and Maaya eye breakthrough at final Chennai open© X/@PTI_News

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 final edition of the Chennai Open begins on Monday. The three Indians, all reliant on wild cards to secure entry into the singles main draw, will be eager to convert 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 trio are still some distance away 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.

However, a home tournament and a wild card can only open the door. The challenge will be to produce the tennis needed 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 included a final appearance at the W35 event in Monastir, Tunisia, in March, a semifinal run at the W15 tournament in Tianjin in August, and a round-of-16 finish at the W50 event in Guiyang in September. However, she has 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 runner-up finish at a W35 event in Wichita and semifinal appearances at W35 tournaments in Rome and Decatur, though she also suffered several early exits despite producing some encouraging results.

For 17-year-old Maaya, who is ranked outside the top 500, the Chennai tournament comes at an important stage of her development.

She recently announced herself with her maiden professional singles title at the W35 tournament in Lagos 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 highlighted her potential, but the step up to a WTA 250 main draw remains significant. Chennai will offer her another opportunity to understand the demands of competing against established professionals and identify areas of her game that require improvement.

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

No Indian has progressed beyond the second round in the previous two editions, held in 2022 and 2025, and home fans will hope that changes this year.

Vaishnavi will open her campaign against Britain's Jodie Burrage (world No. 471), while Sahaja faces Switzerland's Simona Waltert (world No. 128).

Maaya will take on Poland's eighth seed and world No. 106 Katarzyna Kawa.

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

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

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

Those 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 defending champion Janice Tjen's task considerably easier.

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

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

Tjen has continued to compete on the WTA Tour and reached a career-high ranking of 35 this year, but Chennai offers her a chance to finish the season strongly and return to the tournament that transformed her career.

The tournament's 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, while pointing out that Chennai's hot and humid conditions 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 factors that come into play as the girls compete in their matches," he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Featured Video Of The Day

Neeraj Chopra Wins Silver, Yashvir Singh Bronze As India Seal Double Podium In CWG Javelin