Mumbai: Diminutive local girl Mihika Yadav sprang a big surprise when she knocked out top seed Simran Kaur Sethi 6-2 3-6 7-5 to breeze into the girls' singles quarterfinals of CCI-ITF junior tennis tournament here today.
In another upset, 4th seed Vasanti Shindie was shunted out by Ukrainian opponent Anastasiya Klymenko in straight sets. Undeterred by Simran's ranking, which presently is 126 as compared to her own 910, sixth seed Mihika was on the attack from the beginning and won the first set with ease.
However, the top seed found her rhythm thereafter and dominated the second set, breaking her rival early and staying ahead to win it and force the decider.
Even in the final set, the top seed continued to hit winners and was up 4-3 but Mihika, showing a never-say-die spirit, drew level. She broke Simran's serve twice to lead 6-5 and then she served out with confidence to wrap up the tie.
In another hard-fought boys singles pre-quarter final tie, Thailand left hander Chanudom Wiriyajanyong was very aggressive and controlled the pace of the match nicely to send his Indian rival Anurag Nenwani packing. The two-hour battle ended with the Thai winning 6-2 3-6 6-1.
Results: Girls singles (Pre-quarter finals): 6-Mihika Yadav bt 1- Simran Kaur Sethi 6-2, 3-6, 7-5; Nidhi Surapaneni bt Thanushree Vale 6-2, 6-3; 3-Nermeen Shawky (Egypt) bt Nida Kamal 6-2, 6-3; 6-Karman Kaur Thandi bt Avika Sagwal 6-1, 6-1; 5-Sanjana Sudhir bt Madhumita P V Rajan 6-2, 6-0; Anastasiya Klymenko (UKR) bt 4-Vasanti Shinde 6-2, 6-1.
Boys singles (Pre-quarter finals): Alexey Prokopchuk (UKR) bt Lakshmanan Balaji 6-2, 6-4; Chanudom Wiriyajanyong (Tha) bt Anurag Nenwani 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; Paramveer Singh Bajwa bt Mayuk Rawat 7-5, 6-4; S D Prajwal Dev bt Nishangan Nadaraja (SRI) 6-4, 6-2.
