It may not have ended with the title, but the ITF Women’s W100 Bengaluru Open proved to be a defining week for India’s Vaishnavi Adkar, who reached the biggest final of her career at the USD 100,000 event.
Entering the tournament as a wildcard ranked World No. 690, the 21-year-old from Pune produced a series of standout performances to reach the singles final. In doing so, she became the first Indian woman in 17 years to make the singles final of a W100 event or higher. The last Indian to reach such a final was Sania Mirza, who advanced to the title match of the WTA International event in Pattaya back in 2009.
Adkar’s campaign began with a straight-sets win over Sahaja Ahlawat in the opening round, where she came through 6–1, 7–6(6) to set up a Round of 16 clash against Japan’s Mai Hontama. Ranked World No. 220 at the time and nearly 470 places above the Indian, Hontama took the opening set 6–2. However, Adkar fought back to win the second set 6–4 before edging a dramatic final-set tie-break 7–6(8). Notably, she came back from 2–5 down in the tie-break to seal the match after two hours and 49 minutes on court.
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In the quarterfinals, Adkar faced Australia’s Taylah Preston, ranked World No. 148. She took the opening set 6–3 before Preston responded emphatically with a 6–1 second set. The deciding set saw both players hold serve early before Adkar was broken in the third game. She responded by breaking back in the sixth game and later secured another break in the eighth. Although Preston broke back when Adkar served for the match, the Indian maintained pressure from the baseline and eventually closed out the contest 6–4 to move into the semifinals.
The semifinal saw Adkar take on Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee, the World No. 126. Continuing her run against higher-ranked opponents, the Indian delivered a composed performance to win 6–3, 6–3 in just 66 minutes. The victory secured her place in the final of a W100 event her deepest run at this level on the ITF circuit.
Across the tournament, Adkar defeated two Top 150 players and one Top 250 player en route to the final, marking a notable step up in performance against higher-ranked competition.
In the championship match, she faced Belgium’s Hanne Vandewinkel, ranked World No. 124. Vandewinkel raced through the opening set 6–0 in just 20 minutes as Adkar struggled with unforced errors. The Belgian maintained control in the second set and wrapped up the match 6–0, 6–1 in 54 minutes to claim the title and earn 100 WTA ranking points.
Despite the result in the final, Adkar’s week in Bengaluru is set to significantly impact her ranking trajectory. The runner-up finish is expected to result in a climb of over 200 places in the WTA rankings. The performance will also see her move up to become India No. 2.
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The Bengaluru Open marked Adkar’s first wins over players inside the Top 250 and Top 150 ranking brackets, as well as her maiden appearance in a W100 singles final. Starting the week outside the Top 600, she produced a consistent run of results at a higher-tier professional event, making it a breakthrough tournament in terms of match outcomes and ranking progression.
While the final scoreline may have been one-sided, the overall campaign represented a significant milestone in Adkar’s professional career on the ITF circuit.
