Chennai, Nov 2:
Vaishnavi Adkar, Sahaja Yamalapalli and Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi will have one final opportunity to make their mark on home soil when the Chennai Open begins on Monday, with India set to lose its place on the WTA 250 main Tour calendar, at least for now.
All three Indians have secured wild cards for the singles main draw of the third and final edition of the tournament. Ranked outside the world’s top 300, they are still some distance from earning direct entry into WTA 250 events, making the home competition an important opportunity to gain ranking points and test themselves against stronger international opposition.
Vaishnavi is ranked 334 and Sahaja 369. Both have spent much of the season competing on the ITF circuit. Vaishnavi reached the final of a W35 event in Monastir in March, made the semi-finals at W15 Tianjin in August and reached the last 16 at W50 Guiyang in September.
Sahaja has competed at the WTA 125 level in Mumbai and Porto. She also reached a W35 final in Wichita and the semi-finals of W35 events in Rome and Decatur.
Seventeen-year-old Maaya, ranked outside the top 500, arrives after winning her maiden professional singles title at the W35 Lagos event in October. She defeated Spain’s Celia Cervino Ruiz 6-4, 6-2 in the final without dropping a set during the tournament. She also won the doubles title in Lagos.
Vaishnavi will open against Britain’s Jodie Burrage, while Sahaja faces Switzerland’s Simona Waltert. Maaya has been drawn against eighth seed Katarzyna Kawa of Poland.
The tournament field has been weakened by several withdrawals, including world No. 57 Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand, world No. 67 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan and former Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria of Germany.
Defending champion Janice Tjen of Indonesia will seek to retain the title she won last year by beating Australia’s Kimberly Birrell 6-4, 6-3 in the final. Tamil Nadu Tennis Association president Vijay Amritraj described this year’s draw as wide open, noting that Chennai’s heat and humidity could make fitness a decisive factor.
No Indian player progressed beyond the second round in the previous two editions, held in 2022 and 2025. The home crowd will hope the final WTA 250 edition produces a better showing.