Yubarani Banerjee beats Shruti Ahlawat 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the ITF women’s tennis event at the Tennis Project in Baliawas on Friday.
Yubarani, 21, qualified for the semifinals for the first time, proving the faith that had gotten her a wild card spot.
Yubarani, a fierce competitor, served and stroked Shruti with purpose, preventing her from unleashing her power game.
She hasn’t dropped a set in three matches on hard courts thus far. It will be intriguing to see how she responds to the challenge posed by Thailand’s Punnin KovaPitukted, who thrived on the pace and bounce in defeating Shrivalli Bhamidipaty in four games.
The results:
Singles (quarterfinals): Zeel Desai bt Sathwika Sama 6-1, 6-1; Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Sravya Shivani 0-0 (retired); Punnin Kovapitukted (Tha) bt Shrivalli Bhamidipaty 6-2, 6-2; Yubarani Banerjee bt Shruti Ahlawat 6-4, 6-3.
Doubles (semifinals): Punnin Kovapitukted (Tha) & Anna Ureke (Rus) bt Vaidehi Chaudhari & Zeel Desai 7-5, 5-7, [10-6]; Humera Baharmus & Shrivalli Bhamidipaty bt Sai Samhitha & Soha Sadiq 6-2, 6-4.
