Rutuja Bhosale tops doubles main draw at 2026 Mumbai Open WTA 125K

India’s top-ranked women’s doubles player Rutuja Bhosale will headline the doubles main draw of the 2026 Mumbai Open WTA 125K Series, following the official announcement made on Tuesday at the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association.

Bhosale has been paired with Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech, with the Indo-Thai combination seeded first in the tournament, scheduled to be held from February 4 to 8 at the MSLTA courts in Mumbai. The duo will open their campaign against Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand and Argentina’s Nicole Fossa Huergo.

India’s presence in the doubles draw remains strong, with several home players featuring prominently. Last season’s runners-up Prarthana Thombare will partner 21-year-old Alevtina Ibragimova and face the second-seeded pairing of Elena Pridanika and Polina Iatcenko in the opening round. Thombare enters the tournament on the back of consistent results in 2025, including a semifinal finish at a WTA 125 event in Turkey and a runner-up showing in Newport.

Meanwhile, India’s No. 4 and No. 5 doubles players, Ankita Raina and Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, will team up as a wildcard entry. The pair will take on France’s Leolia Jeanjean and Japan’s Naima Karamoko in the first round.

Bhosale, who narrowly missed titles in recent tournaments, including a runner-up finish at the WTA 125 event in Jinan, said competing at MSLTA holds personal significance, having trained at the venue since childhood. She described the tournament as an important platform for the growth of tennis in India.

Indian singles challenge sees early exits

In the singles draw, India endured a bad day, with Sahaja Yamalapalli exiting in the opening round after a hard-fought loss to Japan’s Eri Shimizu. Shrivalli Bhamidipaty and Vaishnavi Adkar also bowed out, while international contenders such as Darja Semenistaja and Mananchaya Sawangkaew progressed, setting the stage for an action-packed week in Mumbai.