Sahaja upsets top seed, enters main draw

Hyderabad tennis player Sahaja Yamalapalli recorded one of the biggest victories of her rising career.

Hyderabad: Hyderabad tennis player Sahaja Yamalapalli recorded one of the biggest victories of her rising career when she defeated top seed Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko in three sets to make it to the main draw of the WTA $100K tennis tournament in Landisville, USA.

The youngster lost the first set 4-6 but rallied to record victories in the next two with 6-1, 6-4 scorelines. Ukraine’s Bondarenko was a former Australian Open doubles champion and currently ranked at 274. Bondarenko also reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in the past.

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Sahaja will take on Olivia Gadecki in the first round match. In the doubles, Sahaja paired with Bondarenko and will begin their campaign against the pair of Oksana Kalashnikova and Iryna Shymanovich of Georgia on Thursday.

Results: final qualifying round: Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Kateryna Bondarenko 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.