Maaya Rajeshwaran's historic Chennai Open run ends in quarter-finals

Indian teenager Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi's impressive run at the Chennai Open 2026 came to an end in the quarter-finals on Friday after she suffered a straight-sets defeat against USA's Robin Montgomery in the women's singles competition.

Indian teenager Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi's impressive run at the Chennai Open 2026 came to an end in the quarter-finals on Friday after she suffered a straight-sets defeat against USA's Robin Montgomery in the women's singles competition. Maaya lost 3-6, 3-6 to Montgomery, who won the Libema Open WTA 250 title in the Netherlands in June, according to Olympics.com.

Despite the defeat, the 16-year-old's campaign marked a significant milestone for Indian tennis as she became the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach the quarter-finals of a WTA Tour-level singles tournament. Mirza had reached the last eight at the Pattaya tournament in 2012. She remains the only Indian woman to win a WTA singles title, having claimed the Hyderabad crown in 2005. She also reached the fourth round of the US Open in the same year.

Before Mirza, Shikha Uberoi was the only other Indian woman to reach a WTA quarter-final in the 21st century, achieving the feat at Kolkata in 2005. World No. 669 Maaya began her Chennai campaign with an impressive upset over eighth seed and world No. 115 Katarzyna Kawa of Poland. She recovered from 5-2 down in the deciding set to register a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(5) victory.

The teenager continued her impressive run by defeating Polish qualifier Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3 in the second round to book her place in the quarter-finals. Maaya also became only the fourth player born in 2009 or later to reach a WTA Tour-level quarter-final, joining USA's Julieta Pareja, Russia's Kristina Liutova and China's Sun Xinran.

Meanwhile, India's No. 1 Vaishnavi Adkar registered her first career main-draw victory at a WTA Tour tournament after defeating England's Jodie Burrage 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the opening round. However, her campaign ended in the second round. Sahaja Yamalapalli also exited in the opening round, bringing India's singles challenge at the tournament to a close.

However, the country's campaign continues in the doubles competition, with two Indian combinations advancing to the quarter-finals. Maaya and Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, along with the pairing of Vaishnavi Adkar and Rutuja Bhosale, won their respective opening-round matches. Maaya had earlier reached the semi-finals of the Mumbai WTA 125 tournament in February, just her fourth professional tournament. Last month, she claimed her maiden professional title at the W35 event in Lagos, Portugal, after coming through the qualifying rounds.

The victory also made her the youngest Indian to win a professional singles title since Sania Mirza. (ANI)