Kalaburagi (Karnataka) [India] March 6 : Third seed Vaishnavi Adkar and eighth seed Ankita Raina continued their impressive run at the ITF W35 Kalaburagi, advancing to the semifinals in both the singles and doubles events after commanding performances on Friday.
Adkar produced a clinical display to defeat Elina Nepliy 6-1, 6-3, and Raina followed with an equally dominant showing, overcoming Evgeniya Burdina 6-0, 6-2 to secure her place in the final four.
The Indian duo later teamed up in the doubles semifinals, edging past Sonal Patil and Bela Tamhankar to reach the final. Meanwhile, Akanksha Dileep Nitture and Karnataka's Soha Sadiq formed the second doubles final pairing.
Vaishnavi Adkar set the tone early in her quarterfinal encounter, finding the lines with both her forehand and backhand to break Elina Nepliy in the second game and surge to a 3-0 lead.
Despite Nepliy attempting to disrupt the rhythm with well-timed drop shots and forcing a prolonged deuce battle, Adkar remained composed and continued to pressure her opponent into errors, extending her advantage to 4-0. Nepliy managed to hold serve once late in the set, but Adkar quickly wrapped it up 6-1 with another solid service game.
The second set followed a similar pattern as Adkar broke Nepliy in the opening game before backing it up with a tough hold. While Nepliy briefly fought back to reduce the deficit and capitalised on a few service errors from Adkar to break and make it 4-2, the Indian immediately responded with a flurry of backhand winners to break again for 5-2.
Nepliy managed another break after a long deuce game, but Adkar raised her level in the following game with clean returns to seal the 6-3 victory.
In the following quarterfinal, Ankita Raina started strongly against Evgeniya Burdina, breaking in the opening game after forcing errors from the Russian before comfortably consolidating with her serve.
Burdina struggled to find consistency as double faults and unforced errors allowed Raina to race to a 3-0 lead. The pressure continued to mount as Raina dominated the rallies, pushing the score to 5-0 before Burdina took a medical timeout. Upon returning, Burdina was unable to halt Raina's momentum as the Indian closed the set 6-0.
The second set began with both players exchanging breaks, but Burdina continued to struggle with her accuracy. Raina capitalised again in the fifth game and finally consolidated the break with a strong hold to move ahead 4-2. Maintaining control from the baseline, she extended her lead to 5-2 before sealing the match in the eighth game after creating three match points, with Burdina sending a return long.
In the doubles semifinals, Vaishnavi Adkar and Ankita Raina battled past Sonal Patil and Bela Tamhankar in a tight contest, winning 7-6(5), 6-2 to book their place in the final. The pair held their nerve in a closely contested opening set before taking control in the second.
In the other semifinal, Akanksha Dileep Nitture and Soha Sadiq staged a spirited comeback to defeat Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi and Japan's Michika Ozeki 6-7(7), 6-0, [10-5], setting up an all-Indian final.
Results
Singles Quarterfinals
Vaishnavi Adkar (IND) bt Elina Nepliy 6-1, 6-3; 8-Ankita Raina (IND) bt Evgeniya Burdina 6-0, 6-2; 6-Thasaporn Naklo (THA) bt 2-Anchisa Chanta (THA) 6-4, 6-1;1- Jasmijn Gimbrere (NED) bt Maayan Laron (ISR) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles Semifinals
2-Vaishnavi Adkar (IND) / Ankita Raina (IND) bt Sonal Patil (IND) / Bela Tamhankar (IND) 7-6(5), 6-2; Akanksha Dileep Nitture (IND) / Soha Sadiq (IND) bt Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi (IND) / Michika Ozeki (JPN) 6-7(7), 6-0, [10-5].