Sahaja Yamalapalli reaches Punta Cana semis; Vaidehi Chaudhari falls in Thailand

Sahaja Yamalapalli, who is poised to become India’s No. 1 women’s singles player, advanced to the semifinals of the ITF W35 Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic on Saturday morning.

The promising Hyderabadi player secured a straight-set victory (6-4, 6-4) over Colombian qualifier Valentina Mediorreal Arias, setting up a semifinal clash against Darja Vidmanova of Czechia.

Sahaja, who previously won the ITF W15 title in Los Angeles in June and the ITF SoCal Pro Series in July in the USA, is now aiming for her third title of the year.

In contrast, Vaidehi Chaudhari’s campaign at the ITF W35 Nakhon Si Thammarat in Thailand ended in the semifinals. She went down to Mariia Tkacheva 5-7, 1-6.

Earlier, the seventh-seeded Vaidehi had cruised past qualifier Anri Nagata in the quarterfinals with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 win, marking her third consecutive straight-set victory in the tournament.

Tkacheva, on the other hand, ended the run of another Indian player, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, with a 6-3, 6(6)-7, 6-4 win to secure her place in the final.

Later in the day, Vaidehi, pairing up with Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty, put up a brave fight in the women's doubles final but lost to Japanese pair Hikaru Sato and Kanako Morisaki 3-6, 6-2, 8-10.