Rutuja, Sowjanya topple seeded opponents to enter last eight

India's Sowjanya Bavisetti and wild card Rutuja Bhosale toppled seeded opponents to enter the singles quarterfinals in the USD 10,000 Endurance MSLTA ITF women's tennis championships here today.
Sowjanya shocked no. 4 seed Emi Mutaguchi of Japan, while Rutuja ousted fifth seed Shweta Rana.
No. 2 seed Prathana Thombare and no. 8 Nidhi Chilulmula scored victories to advance to the next round, while top seed Ankita Raina, no. 3 Rishika Sunkara, no. 6 Prerna Bhambri and no. 7 Natasha Palha also made the last eight grade.
Left-handed Sowjanya from Hyderabad, ranked 702, beat 552nd ranked Japanese rival 4-6 6-2 6-1 in a two-hour and 40-minute contest.

Bespectacled Pune girl Rutuja justified the organisers' belief in awarding her a wild card as she came back from 2-5 in the third set tie break to scrape past her 558-ranked rival 6-1 0-6 7-6(8-6) in two hours and 18 minutes.
"I'm relieved to come out as a winner. I just lost my focus midway," said Rutuja, who led 5-3 in the decider before Rana took three games in a row to go up 6-5.

Rutuja held her serve in the 12th game to force the tie break.
Prarthana scraped past a fighting Chihiro Nunome of Japan 6-7(5) 6-2 7-6(1) in a three hour and 35-minute battle. The Indian player was leading 5-3 in the first and the third sets before clawing her way back to win the third set in the tie-break.

Nidhi also faced a rough time before overcoming a fighting Bhuvana Kalwa 7-6(5) 6-4, while no. 1 seed Ankita was stretched a bit before defeating Damini Sharma 6-2 7-5.
Results: Singles (Round 2): Ankita Raina-1 bt Damini Sharma 6-2 7-5; Prerna Bhambri-6 bt Akshara Iska 6-2 6-0; Sowjanya Bavisetti bt Emi Mutaguchi-4 (Jpn) 4-6 6-2 6-1; Rutuja Bhosale bt Shweta Rana-5 6-1 0-6 7-6(8-6); Nidhi Chilumula-8 bt Bhuvna Kalva 7-6(5) 6-4; Rishika Sunkara-3 bt Amrita Mukherjee 6-2 6-2; Natasha Palha-7 bt Shrishti Slaria 6-2 6-0; Prarthana Thombare-2 bt Chihiro Nunome (Jpn) 6-7(5) 6-2 7-6(1).