Zakharova beats Adkar 6-3, 6-0 in Chennai second round

Anastasia Zakharova defeated Vaishnavi Adkar 6-3, 6-0 in the second round of the WTA 250 Chennai Open at the SDAT Stadium in Chennai on Thursday. Vaishnavi offered resistance in the opening set but was overwhelmed as the contest progressed.

Vaishnavi Adkar was one of three Indian wild cards in the draw and had to follow up her maiden Tour-level victory over Britain’s Jodie Burrage. The match pitted World No. 107 Zakharova against the Indian World No. 344 in front of 200-odd spectators under the floodlights on Centre Court. The Russian’s lithe movement and a powerful backhand kept pressure on the top-ranked Indian throughout.

Zakharova broke in the third game of the first set and immediately faced a long deuce game, which Vaishnavi extended before the Russian consolidated the break. A further lengthy deuce exchange went Zakharova’s way as she edged the Indian to increase her lead. Those sequences helped the 24-year-old establish control of the opener.

In the fifth game Vaishnavi raised her tempo, moving to a 40-0 lead on Zakharova’s serve and producing down-the-line return winners from both wings, but she failed to convert those chances. Trailing 2-5, the 21-year-old took a medical timeout and played the remainder of the match with her left thigh strapped. Her movement was restricted after the timeout.

Despite the restriction, Vaishnavi briefly responded by swinging freely and converting her seventh break point, only for Zakharova to break back immediately and close out the first set. The opening set lasted 59 minutes. Vaishnavi’s level then dropped sharply in the second set: she won four out of 26 points, and the set lasted 23 minutes.

Other second-round results saw Magda Linette (Pol) beat Moyuka Uchijima (Jpn) 7-6(5), 6-0; Lucrezia Stefanini (Ita) defeat Simona Waltert (Sui) 6-2, 6-3; and Mai Hontama (Jpn) overcome Zhibek Kulambayeva (Kaz) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Maaya Rajeshwaran is the only Indian left in the draw. She will face left-handed American Robin Montgomery in Friday’s quarterfinal.