WTA Chennai Open: Indian wild card Thandi pulls off upset win

Karman, a wild card for this tournament, displayed a never-say-die attitude through the course of the contest. Despite going down in the opening set 6-4, the 24-year-old from Delhi showed the will to fight. The turning point in the match arrived in the 7th game of the second set when she broke her French opponent to go 4-3 in that set.

She held her serve in the next game and went on to clinch the set in the 10th game of the second set. Once the contest reached the decider, it was the Paquet who got the break early and led the set 2-0. However, Karman once again showed her mettle to not only break her opponent in the third game but also go on to hold serve in the fourth.

From that moment, it was Karman all the way. Karman was a different player altogether from the fifth game of the third set as she sealed the deal 6-3. She landed her forehands and hit the lines just when it mattered which helped her notch up the biggest win of her career.

"This win means a lot," she said after the match. "It was a mental battle and I am happy that I could pull through," Thandi said. While the second half of the evening belonged to the Delhi 24-year-old, Canadian heartthrob Eugenie Bouchard gave the event the necessary boost when she won the first match of the day 7-6 (4), 6-2 against Joanne Zuger.

The encounter saw the 28-year-old Canadian being tested in the opening set by her opponent from Switzerland. But once she won the first set in tie-breaker, Genie found her groove to eventually seal the deal in 1 hour and 44 minutes. Genie, a wildcard in this tournament is on a comeback trail after suffering a shoulder injury in 2021, had a tricky first set.