Hyderabad: Hyderabad tennis player Yadlapalli Pranjala recorded the biggest victory in her career by defeating the former World no. 20 player Daria Gavrilova at the UTR Melbourne Series, hosted by Tennis Australia.
Pranjala has been in Australia since February this year for a rehabilitation programme and since been stuck there because of the coronavirus pandemic. She returned to court after her rehabilitation and defeated Daria 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 in a closely-fought contest. Daria reached the fourth round of Australian Open in 2016 and 17 and entered the third round in French Open and Wimbledon in 2018. However, she is currently ranked 445.
Speaking after the victory, Pranjala said the victory will boost her morale. “I am coming from an injury and defeating a player of that calibre is a great morale-booster. The game was a close one. I was leading 3-0 in the first set but lost it. But came back to win the match,” she said from Melbourne.
Pranjala’s previous best victory against a higher-ranked player was in 2018 when she defeated Conny Perrin, who was then ranked in the 130s in the world, in Lagos.
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