ITF Women La Marsa Tunisia W25, W40, May 29- June 11, 2023

[jayakris]

Who took a medical break?

Sahaja just broke Yashina to lead 3-0 in the second. It is probably Yashina taking the MTO.

[Omkara]

Hope so

[jayakris]

[QF] Sahaja Yamalapalli (IND,440) d. Ekaterina Yashina (RUS,417), 61 60

Yashina only had 7 points in the second set, and three of them were DFs from Sahaja.

[sameerph]

Rutuja takes the first set 64 in her QF.

[sameerph]

Rutuja lost the second set 46. Breakpoints won only 1 out of 7 for Rutuja while it was 2 out of 2 for her opponent. So, that made the difference in this set.

[Dinesh]

Rutuja wins 6-4 4-6 6-4. What a dream week in singles for us!

At least one Indian assured in the finals!

[sameerph]

Yes,

[SF] Sahaja Yamalapalli (IND,440) vs Rutuja Bhosale (IND,374)

[sameerph]

Rutuja beats Sahaja in a close 3 setter to reach the final.

[SF] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,374) d. Sahaja Yamalapalli (IND,440) 36 61 75

Looks like first final for Rutuja at W25 level although she has made a lot of semi finals. Up against top seed in the final.

Next,

[F] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,374) vs. (1) Anastatia Gasenova (RUS,267)

[Omkara]

Finally Rutuja makes it to this level. Great week for her and Sahaja.

In Indian women's tennis, except for Ankita and Karman, no one could break the 400 barrier consistently. Occasionally maybe, I don't recollect. I remember the batch of Rutuja. It had few promising names. Few went to USA for college, trying their luck like Som and Harsh.

[sameerph]

And Rutuja wins the final after being bagled in the first set.

[F] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,374) d. (1) Anastatia Gasenova (RUS,267) 06 63 64

After being bagled in first set, Rutuja won the second set with 2 breaks against 1. In third set, Rutuja went up 5-2. Had 2 matchpoints at 5-2, 40-15 on own serve but Gasenova broke. In next game, Gasenova held after a long game but no break points. And finally serving second time for the match at 5-4, she missed another match point at 40-30 but took it on her 4th match point at ad-in.

[Dinesh]

Wow! Gasanova used to be ranked in the top-130 not so long ago. This is a quality title win for Rutuja.

I hope she takes a break from singles next week.

[jayakris]

In Indian women's tennis, except for Ankita and Karman, no one could break the 400 barrier consistently. Occasionally maybe, I don't recollect. I remember the batch of Rutuja. It had few promising names. Few went to USA for college, trying their luck like Som and Harsh.

Rutuja also went to US college. Graduated with a business degree from Texas A&M.

[There was Niru before Sania of course, and India-born Shikha Uberoi whio played under Indian colors, the highest ranked once at #122 among them all after Sania. But maybe you meant only the last 15 years]

[jayakris]

The fighting qualities that Rutuja always showed whenever she was healthy and not injury-impaired were learned in US colleges. Harsh, Somdev, Rutuja etc have all benefited from that part of the US college grind.

But winning 5 three-set matches in a row and finishing it with a comeback after an 0-6 against a quality top seed was nothing short of miraculous fight from Rutuja this week!

[Omkara]

Yes this is great news. Five three setters is sign of true grit and determination...

[sameerph]

At W40 La Marsa ,Tunisia

[R1] Rutuja Bhosale (IND,386) vs. (WC) Suzanie Pretorius (RSA,ITF-1228)

[R1] Sahaja Yamlapalli (IND,440) vs. (7) Jana Kolodynska (BLR,352)

Looks like an easy match for Rutuja. 19 year Jana has been ranked as high as 13 in juniors couple of years back. So, it will be a tough match for Sahaja.