Chennai Open WTA: Maaya Rajeshwaran's dream run ends in quarterfinals

India's Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi's memorable Chennai Open campaign ended with a 3-6, 3-6 defeat to American Robin Montgomery in the quarterfinals here on Friday, but the teenager left behind a performance that offers fresh hope for the country's women's tennis.

The 17-year-old became the first Indian since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach the singles quarterfinals of a WTA Tour-level tournament, a significant achievement for a player who began the week ranked 669th in the world.

Her run in Chennai is expected to lift her inside the top-500.

More than the ranking boost, it was Maaya's fearless approach against higher-ranked opponents that stood out.

She has the strokes, the attacking instincts and, most importantly, the grit to take on better players. The challenge now is to build on the progress made during the 2026 season by getting physically stronger and improving her serve.

Montgomery, a former top-100 player now ranked 151st, used her powerful groundstrokes to eventually overpower the Indian, though Maaya showed she was willing to take the fight to the American.

Confident after her impressive run, Maaya went for her shots and initially served better than she had in her previous match.

She put the left-handed Montgomery under pressure with some solid returning in the fifth game, pushing her opponent to deuce before inducing a forehand error to earn a break point.

The American saved it, but Maaya persisted and drew first blood when Montgomery netted a backhand.

The Indian, however, could not consolidate the break.

Montgomery pinned her to the backhand corner and produced a double-handed backhand winner to break back before holding serve to move ahead 4-3.

Maaya's first-serve struggles then began to hurt her attacking game, as they had in her previous match. She saved a break point, but her third double fault of the match handed Montgomery another opportunity, which the American converted after a return error from the Indian.

Montgomery moved 5-3 ahead and served out the opening set without much trouble.

Maaya needed a strong response in the second set, but the American maintained her control to complete a comfortable straight-set victory.

With the defeat, India's singles challenge at the tournament also came to an end.

Vaishnavi Adkar had lost 3-6 0-6 to seventh seed Anastasia Zakharova in the second round, while Sahaja Yamalapalli exited in the opening round after a 4-6 6-3 3-6 defeat to Switzerland's Simona Waltert.

Montgomery will now take on defending champion and Indonesian top seed Janice Tjen, who survived a strong challenge from sixth seed Polina Kudermetova, winning 5-7 6-4 6-2 to enter the semifinals.

In doubles, second seeds Weronika Falkowska and Alana Smith defeated Gabriella Da Silva Fick and Zhibek Kulambayeva 3-6, 7-5, 10-5.

Naima Karamoko and Simona Waltert had earlier booked a semifinal berth by beating top seeds Momoko Kobori and Peangtarn Plipuech 6-4, 7-6 (5).

India still has a presence in the doubles draw through Maaya/Shrivalli Bhamidipaty and Vaishnavi /Rutuja Bhosale in the quarterfinals.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed)