Vaishnavi Adkar and Rutuja Bhosale made history and etched their names into the record books by becoming the first-ever Indian pair to reach a WTC tour doubles final.
The Indian tennis stars defeated second seeds Weronika Falkowska (Poland) and Alana Smith (USA) in the semi-final of the Chennai Open. Interestingly, Shikha Unberio and her sister Neha also reached the final of a WTA event (Sunfeast Open and Guangzhou Open) in 2005. Shikha was born in India while Neha was born in the USA. Shikha represented India in that match while Neha represented the USA.
Adkar and Bhosale defeated their opponents 6-2, 2-6, 10-8. They will meet Naïma Karamoko and Simona Waltert in the final on Sunday (November 8). Bhosale has been dealing with an injury, but she has given her best thus far.
“It’s an incredible feeling, just to do it on home soil, doing it with someone I really enjoy playing with, someone I really believe in. I have so much support and our team was here, so that was really helpful for us because I am battling a few injuries and I also got sick this week. So it’s definitely really nice to have my husband around which we don’t get to do, so yeah I mean we had no idea we were the first Indian player, so yeah I mean it’s something that I always remember. We had no idea we were the first Indian pair. It’s something that I will always remember,” Bhosale said after the match.
“One of the biggest things for us was to keep going for our shots. In the super tie-break, we also reminded ourselves to just enjoy this moment because it’s very rare that you get to play a WTA 250 semifinal in front of the home crowd. The atmosphere was just amazing,” Adkar said after creating history with Bhosale.
“I am really glad that we could make the best out of it and play the final. That is how I am looking at it. Sport teaches you so much in general. There are so many ups and downs. Probably this is a sad part for our country, but for me, it’s positive that we have reached the final during the last edition.”
Telecast and live streaming
The much-awaited final will kick off at 4:00 PM IST. The Indian audience can enjoy the live telecast on the Star Sports Network. The show will be streamed live on the JioHotstar app.