Hyderabad: Hyderabad tennis player Yadlapalli Pranjala won her first big tournament on Sunday when the 18-year-old captured the $15,000 ITF Women’s singles title in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt with a fighting 6-7 (0), 7-5, 6-4 win over Clerici Giada of Italy.
It was a tight match all the way as players refused to give an inch to each other. The first set went to the tie-breaker where Pranjala was all at sea.
However, the Indian continued to fight hard in the second set before taking it at 7-5. With the set scores levelled, Pranjala found her mojo and began to pull away in the decider. She upped the ante and picked points at crucial junctures to take it at 6-4 and break into celebration.
Earlier in the semifinal, Pranjala defeated fourth seed Yashina Ekaterina of Russia 6-4, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, she packed off top seed Mihalikova Terez of Slovakia 6-3, 7-6 (3). Mihalikova is 2015 Junior Australian Open winner and 2016 Junior Australian Open runner-up. In the previous round, the Hyderabad girl silenced eighth seed Sella Francesca of Italy 6-2, 6-0. The first round match too was a cakewalk, a 6-0, 6-2 stroll against wild card entrant Natascha Kennis of The Netherlands.
Pranjala did not have much luck in the doubles though. She and partner Sri Vaishnavi Peddi Reddy lost to the third seeded Italian team of Clerici Giada and Sella Francesca 3-6, 6-3, (6-10) in the quarterfinals. In the first round, the Indians had beaten Adele Diana Biba and Agnes Ornella Biba of Cameroon 6-3, 6-0.
Pranjala, the first year degree student at St Mary’s College, had quite a few people to thank — coach Sanjay Kumar from the Sunjay Tennis Academy, fitness trainer N. Ramesh (Dronacharya awardee); Vijay from the Gym Apollo Wellness and her sponsors Wilson and GVK Foundation. Promising Pranjala has been ranked No.1 in India U-18 category, No.15 in ITF Juniors.
