Chennai Open WTA 250- Sept 12-18, 2022

[sameerph]

I am watching on Sonyilv app. Karman is playing quite beautifully, serve is pretty good and forehand has been superb. Backhand was bad earlier but has now improved on that front and also running around and taking shots on forehand from middle of that set helped. Movement is also very good. Only if Karman can improve the first serve % it will help a lot.

[sameerph]

It is 3-3 in third set. Karman had a bp in first game which she could not convert and then got broken in second game to go 0-2, but she broke back and then held for 2-2. and then couple of holds.

[sameerph]

And Karman breaks at 30 to take a 4-3 lead. Can she keep it up now ? Needs some strong serving.

[sameerph]

Karman holds at love for 5-3.

[Dinesh]

What a win for Karman! Plays Bouchard next. Let’s go KKT!!!

New India #1.

[sameerph]

And Karman breaks it at 15 with some superb forehands to get a great upset.

[R1] Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,359) d. (8) Chloe Paquet (FRA,109) 46 64 63

[vparam]

Wow, what a win! I’m beyond ecstatic! Great job Karman!

[sameerph]

37 winners for Karman in the match, I think all forehand, shows how good she is on that front. I think she did improve her backhand too after first set.

[Dinesh]

Can we ask Leela Hotel to feed Genie some incredibly spicy food and get her food poisoning? Another win for Karman would get her into top-300.

[PKBasu]

[R1] WC-Karman Kaur Thandi (IND,359) d. 8-Chloe Paquet (FRA,109) 46 64 63

Second main draw win at WTA250 level for Karman (the previous one was at Jianxi in 2018, where she qualified in too). But what a terrific way to start the Chennai Open 2022!

[vparam]

Is this the highest ranked player Karman has ever defeated?

[PKBasu]

I missed the first set. But what an exhibition she put up in the second and third sets. Her serving was reliable -- mixing power on the first serve with kick (and often depth and angle) on the second serve -- and her forehand was a massive weapon, packing way more power than Paquet could manage on either flank. (One can see why she has never quite made it to top-100, despite making R2 at the FO, and qualifying into Wimbledon this year; her career high ranking was 101 in late-April this year). Karman's backhand was inconsistent, partly because she prefers to go for low-percentage shots too often (which works with the forehand, much less with the backhand). Later in the match, she did have a few backhand winners. She has a very good volley, the passing shots and cross-courts on the forehand side are penetrating and powerful. What a player!

After breaking at 15 to make it 4-3, Karman held at love, and then broke Paquet again to emphatically stamp her class on the match.

[jayakris]

I had to be away for a while since the third set started, but wow, what a nice upset win for Karman!

[arjun2761]

Wow, that is a quality win by Karman! Should have a pretty good chance against Genie Bouchard who hasn't been good for quite a while. Karman certainly has the highest ceiling of all our women.

[jayakris]

^^^ Certainly. She has the highest ceiling, and has the tools to get into the top-100 too. The injury and Covid took her off-track. If she can put it all together and start taking some strides from here on out, she could go up and up.