Karman Kaur Thandi upsets eighth seed Paquet on opening day of WTA Chennai Open
India’s Karman Kaur Thandi scored the big upset on the opening day of the WTA Chennai Open with a three-set win over eighth seed Chloe Paquet, of France at the SDAT Tennis Stadium on Monday evening.
The 24-year-old wild card entrant came from a set down to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 35 minutes and score the second WTA 250 level win of her career in front of a delighted home crowd who cheered her on through the contest.
Thandi, ranked 359 in the world, will next meet Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard in the second round. In the first match of the day on Centre Court, former world No. 5 Bouchard needed a first set tiebreaker before defeating Switzerland’s Joanne Zuger 7-6, 6-2 in one hour and 44 minutes.
This was the Canadian’s first WTA 250-level win since returning to the tour last month after shoulder surgery.
In other matches, fifth seed Rebecca Peterson came from 2-5 down to beat 17-year-old Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva 6-2, 7-6, sixth seed Qiang Wang fought back from 2-4 down in the decider to beat former US Open semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
While seventh seed Rebecca Marino came from 3-5 down in the first set to beat Anna Blinkova 7-5, 6-2.
17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova also advanced, beating qualifier En-Shuo Liang 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 while qualifier Nao Hibino and Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa won their matches in straight sets.
WTA Chennai Open – First Round results (September 12)
Rebecca Peterson (5) beats Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva 6-2, 7-6
Qiang Wang (6) beats Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
Rebecca Marino (7) beats Anna Blinkova 7-5, 6-2
Linda Fruhvirtova beats En-Shuo Liang (Q) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
Karman Kaur Thandi (WC) beats Chloe Paquet (8) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Eugenie Bouchard (WC) beats Joanne Zuger. 7-6, 6-2
Nao Hibino (Q) beats Jana Fett (Q) 6-0, 6-4
Katarzyna Kawa beats Astra Sharma 6-4, 6-3
