Chennai, Tamil Nadu, November 02: Three Indian players will lead the home challenge as the singles main draw of the Chennai Open International Women’s Tennis Championships 2026 gets underway on Monday at the SDAT Tennis Stadium.
Four players secured their places in the main draw through Sunday’s final qualifying round. Top seed Aliona Falei, second seed Kyoka Okamura, fifth seed Weronika Falkowska and Zhibek Kulambayeva came through their respective matches.
India’s top-ranked singles player Vaishnavi Adkar will face Great Britain’s Jodie Burrage, Sahaja Yamalapalli takes on Switzerland’s Simona Waltert, while 17-year-old wild card Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi faces eighth seed Katarzyna Kawa of Poland.
The draw has been revised following the injury withdrawals of second seed Lilli Tagger and ninth seed Harriet Dart. Tenth seed Lucrezia Stefanini will now face France’s Elsa Jacquemot, while qualifiers or lucky losers will fill the two vacant positions.
Falei, the 22-year-old Belarusian ranked World No. 196, defeated 18-year-old Rada Zolotareva 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Second seed Okamura overcame fellow Japanese player Momoko Kobori 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, following her opening-round victory over Indian wild card Diya Ramesh.
Fifth seed Falkowska defeated fourth seed Viktoria Morvayova 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Falkowska had also been challenged by 14-year-old Indian wild card Jensi Kanabar in the opening round, where the youngster won a set.
Kulambayeva completed the qualifying line-up with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over third seed Mei Yamaguchi of Japan. Adkar, currently ranked World No. 334, is the highest-ranked Indian in the singles draw, while Yamalapalli is ranked World No. 369. No Indian player advanced to the final round of qualifying.
Offering a prize purse of US$283,347, the tournament runs from November 2 to 8 and marks the final edition of the Chennai Open before it moves to the Philippines next year.
Results - Final Qualifying Round – Sunday, November 1
[2] K. Okamura (JPN) def. [8] M. Kobori (JPN) 3-6 6-3 6-3
[5] W. Falkowska (POL) def. [4] V. Morvayova (SVK) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
[1] A.Falei def. [6] R. Zolotareva 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
Z. Kulambayeva (KAZ) def. [3] M. Yamaguchi (JPN) 3-6, 6-3, 7- 6(4)
