Nidhi Chilumula did her confidence a world of good as she wrestled past Keren Shlomo of Israel 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5 in the pre-quarterfinals of the $10,000 ITF women's tennis tournament at the Shanti Academy courts here on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old Nidhi could have had a quicker finish but for squandering a 3-0 lead in the second set. Yet, she bounced back strongly in the decider, after dropping her serve in the first game, to lead 5-3. When it looked tricky with Keren equalising at 5-5, fifth seed Nidhi asserted her class by winning the last two games at love.
It was an impressive performance from Nidhi, as she had failed to win a game when the two met last time in a similar tournament in Mumbai in 2012.
Dhruthi Venugopal, who won a round in the Delhi Open recently, continued with her good run and sailed past Sowjanya Bavisetti 7-5, 6-3. The 18-year-old led 5-2 in the first set before the talented Sowjanya fought her way back to be on par. However, Sowjanya missed her chances and Dhruthi capitalised to seal the first set.
In the second set, Dhruthi accelerated to the finish by breaking Sowjanya's serve twice, as the latter managed to win a mere three points in all in the last three games.
Y. Pranjala also did well to make the quarterfinals ahead of the free-stroking Sri Vaishnavi Peddi Reddy, the eighth seed, for the loss of three games.
The 16-year-old Pranjala won four games on the trot from 2-2 in the fist set, and five games in a row from 1-1 in the second. She will face the second seed Ching-Wen Hsu of Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals.
The results:
Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Melanie Klaffner (Aut) bt Vaniya Dangwal 6-0, 6-0; Nungnadda Wannasuk (Tha) bt Shivika Burman 6-3, 6-1; Prarthana Thombare bt Nandini Sharma 6-1 (retired): Dhruthi Venugopal bt Sowjanya Bavisetti 7-5, 6-3; Nidhi Chilumula bt Keren Shlomo 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5; Lavinia Tananta (Ina) bt Rishika Sunkara 6-4, 7-6(3); Pranjala Yadlapalli bt Sri Vaishnavi Peddi Reddy 6-2, 6-1; Ching-Wen Hsu (Tpe) bt Prerna Bhambri 6-1, 6-3.
Doubles (quarterfinals): Nungnadda Wannasuk (Ina) & Prarthana Thombare bt Vanshika Sawhney & Pranjala Yadlapalli 6-4, 6-0; Snehadevi Reddy & Dhruthi Venugopal bt Shweta Rana & Vasanti Sinde 6-4, 6-2; Eetee Maheta & Rashmi Teltumbde bt Riya Bhatia & Sharon Sanchana Paul 6-2, 7-6(7); Prerna Bhambri & Rishika Sunkara bt Ayu-Fani Damayanti & Lavinia Tananta (Ina) 6-3, 5-7, 10-4.
