Robin Montgomery defeats Maaya Rajeshwaran to reach Chennai Open semifinals
The American player ended the run of wildcard Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi in the WTA 250 quarterfinals on Friday.
American Robin Montgomery defeated wildcard Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the WTA 250 Chennai Open at the SDAT Stadium in Nungambakkam on Friday. The win ended the singles challenge for the Indian player, who is the first Indian woman to reach the last-eight stage of a Tour-level event since Sania Mirza in 2012.
According to The Hindu, the 17-year-old Maaya from Coimbatore initially took an early break in the fifth game of the first set. However, Montgomery, a former junior US Open champion and former World No. 95, regained parity and served out the set. The 22-year-old American won the second set with a double break advantage at 4-1 to finish the match.
Montgomery, the world No. 151, said after the match that Maaya was a home favourite and she focused on what she could control. The New Indian Express reported that Montgomery won points in 19 out of 29 second return attempts during the match.
In another quarterfinal, defending champion and top seed Janice Tjen recovered from a set down to beat Polina Kudermetova 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. Tjen, the world No. 75 from Indonesia, said she told her opponent she would not shy away from the match.
Montgomery will face Tjen in the semifinals on Saturday. In the doubles event, Vaishnavi Adkar and Rutuja Bhosale moved into the semifinals after defeating Montgomery and Jodie Burrage 7-5, 6-4, while Maaya and Shrivalli Bhamidipaty lost 3-6, 4-6 to Isabelle Haverlag and Panna Udvardy.