Maaya Rajeshwaran becomes first Indian to reach Chennai Open quarter-finals with 6-4, 6-3 win over Falkowska

Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi defeated Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday at the SDAT Tennis Stadium to become the first Indian to reach the quarter-finals of the Chennai Open 2026, a WTA 250 event.

Ranked World No. 669 and entered into the main draw as a wild card, seventeen-year-old Maaya is the first-ever Indian to reach the quarters at the Chennai Open and the first Indian since Sania Mirza in 2012 to make a WTA Tour 250 quarter-final; she is also the second Indian woman after Mirza to reach the quarter-finals of a WTA Tour level tournament.

The opening set featured five breaks of serve in the early games and neither player able to settle; Maaya trailed 2-4 before winning four straight games to capture the set 6-4, closing the set with an outstanding volley.

In the second set Maaya moved 2-0 up, Falkowska recovered to 2-2, and Maaya then held serve with a well-disguised drop shot followed by a winner and finished that game with an ace; she struck three aces in the set overall and benefited from Falkowska’s errors at key moments.

Maaya moved to 5-3 in the second set and, serving for the match, converted her third match point to complete the straight-sets victory over the World No. 277.

“It definitely feels so good after the win,” said Maaya. Speaking about handling the pressure, she said, “Coming in as a wild card, I felt I had nothing to lose. I just wanted to play my best tennis and give it my all. I’m happy to have more wins under my belt, and that makes me even happier.”

In other results, Vaishnavi Adkar and Rutuja Bhosale won their doubles match 6-4, 6-4 over Madeleine Brooks and Amelia Rajecki, while Diya Ramesh and Deepshika Vinayagamurthy lost to Naima Karamoko and Simona Waltert and Ankita Raina and Hiroko Kuwata were also eliminated; defending champion and top seed Janice Tjen advanced with a 7-6(1), 6-1 victory over Joanna Garland, with the World No. 75 saying she focused on taking the match one point at a time and staying calm.

The Chennai Open at the SDAT Tennis Stadium carries a total prize purse of US$283,347 and runs until November 8; Maaya will now face Robin Montgomery of the United States (World No. 151) for a place in the semi-finals.