WTA Chennai Open: Sahaja, Shrivalli exit; Indian singles campaign over

Indian young tennis stars Sahaja Yamalapalli and Shrivalli Bhamidipaty exited from the prequarterfinals of the 2025 WTA 250 Chennai Open on Thursday.

Sahaja was outclassed by world no.78 Donna Vekic of Croatia, 2-6, 2-6. Meanwhile, Shrivalli was knocked out by 7th-seeded Kimberly Birell of Australia after a close fight, 5-7, 6-7.

Two Sets of Multiple Breaks

Shrivalli made an impressive comeback in the opening set from two breaks down at 1-5 to level the score at 5-5 by winning consecutive breaks against Birrell.

But then Birrell found out another break in the 11th game and closed out the opening set with 7-5.

This struggle of holding the serve continued in the second set as well, as there were as many as eight breaks in that set, with four each for both players.

This resulted in a tied 6-6 set, inducing a tiebreak to decide the winner, where the experienced Australian got the better of Shrivalli by 6-2.

With this, India's campaign has also ended in the singles category of the 2025 WTA Chennai Open, which was India's first WTA event in three years.

On the other hand, Sahaja had yet another disappointment on Thursday as she, partnering with Germany's Caroline Werner, also lost her doubles match in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 7-10.