India No. 3 Pranjala enters her maiden WTA main draw

India number three Pranjala Yadlapalli qualified for the main draw of a WTA tennis event for the first time in her fledgling career here Sunday.

Pranjala outclassed her Georgian opponent Oksana Kalashnikova in straight sets in the second and final qualifying round match of the USD 125,000 L&T Mumbai Open at the Cricket Club of India (CCI).

The 19-year-old mass communications under-graduate from Hyderabad, seeded third in the qualifiers aided by her ranking of 280 on the WTA circuit, needed one hour and 15 minutes to carve out a 6-4 6-3 victory over Oksana, who is ranked a distant 9,999.

Still, it was a satisfying day for the Guntur-born Pranjala as she joined her Indian compatriots India number one Ankita Raina (direct entrant) and wild cards Karman Kaur Thandi and Rutuja Bhosale in the main draw of 32.

Last year, Pranjala lost to Ana Bogden, who would have got a direct entry into the main draw if she had not forgotten to send in her entry, in the first ...