Prerna makes first round exit in ITF event

Fifth seed Valentyna Ivakhnenko of Russia defeated Prerna Bhambri of India 6-1 6-1 to enter the second round of the USD 25,000 NECC-ITF Women's tennis tournament at the Deccan Gymkhana here today.
In another all-Russia first round tie, Viktoria Kamenskaya won 7-5 7-5 against Yana Sizikova to earn a meeting against the winner of the clash between defending champion Ankita Raina and Sowjanya Bawisetti, both from India, in round two.
Qualifiers Britt Guekens, Veronika Kapshay and Ana Veselinovic also stormed into the second round, beating ranked players.
Having gone through gruelling qualifying yesterday, the trio showed they had enough reserves to take on the direct entrants and score upset wins.

Belgium's Britt Guekens needed three sets to set aside Jelena Simic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-0 3-6 6-2, while Ukraine's Veronika Kapshay defeated Ellie Halbauer of the United States, also in three sets. Veronika won 7-5 3-6 6-3.
Montenegro's Ana Veselinovic, however, needed just two sets to defeat Anastasiya Vasylyeva of Ukraine 6-3 6-4.
She now awaits the winner of all-French first round clash between qualifier Harmony Tan and Fiona Ferro.