Chennai Open 2026 qualifying: Falei, Okumura, Falkowska and Kulambayeva reach main draw
Aliona Falei, Kyoka Okumura, Weronika Falkowska and Zhibek Kulambayeva won their final qualifying matches on Sunday to claim places in the singles main draw of the WTA Chennai Open 2026 at the SDAT Tennis Stadium on Nov 1. The four qualifiers join the main field ahead of the tournament's opening week.
Three Indian players will lead the home challenge when the singles main draw begins on Monday at the SDAT Tennis Stadium. Vaishnavi Adkar, India's top-ranked singles player, will face Great Britain’s Jodie Burrage. Sahaja Yamalapalli is scheduled to meet Switzerland’s Simona Waltert, while 17-year-old wild card Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi will play eighth seed Katarzyna Kawa of Poland. The draw was revised after the injury withdrawals of second seed Lilli Tagger and ninth seed Harriet Dart; tenth seed Lucrezia Stefanini will now face France’s Elsa Jacquemot and qualifiers or lucky losers will fill the two vacant positions.
Top seed Aliona Falei, a 22-year-old Belarusian ranked World No. 196, defeated 18-year-old Rada Zolotareva 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in Sunday’s final qualifying match. That result secured Falei’s place in the Chennai Open singles main draw as one of the four qualifiers from the final round. Falei was listed as the top seed in qualifying.
Second seed Kyoka Okumura overcame compatriot Momoko Kobori 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to advance from the final qualifying round. Okumura had earlier beaten Indian wild card Diya Ramesh in the opening qualifying round. Her three-set win on Sunday completed her progression into the tournament’s main draw.
Fifth seed Weronika Falkowska defeated fourth seed Viktoria Morvayova 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to earn a main-draw berth. Falkowska had been pushed in the opening qualifying round by 14-year-old Indian wild card Jensi Kanabar, with the youngster taking a set. The victory over Morvayova carried Falkowska through to the Chennai Open main draw.
Zhibek Kulambayeva completed the qualifying line-up with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) win over third seed Mei Yamaguchi of Japan. That result filled the final qualifying spot available on Sunday and sent Kulambayeva into the singles main draw. The four qualifiers join direct entrants and wild cards in the tournament bracket.
No Indian player advanced to the final round of qualifying. Vaishnavi Adkar is listed as World No. 334 and is the highest-ranked Indian in the singles draw, while Sahaja Yamalapalli is ranked World No. 369.
The WTA 250 Chennai Open carries a prize purse of US$283,347 (₹2.69 crore) and runs from November 2 to 8. This edition is the final Chennai Open before the event moves to the Philippines next year.