
New Delhi, April 16: Nirupama Vaidyanathan received an easier draw, establishing herself as favourite, but Mumbai-leg winner Sai Jayalakshmy and Manisha Malhotra will be among the top contenders in the ITF Women8217;s Circuit tennis starting on Monday.
Coming here with a title under her belt, National hard-court champion Sai is in a tough bottom half of draw, which promises a rematch of the Mumbai-leg semifinal against Manisha.
While the top three Indians start their campaign on Tuesday, third seed Urska will face Arthi Venkataraman on Monday. Fifth seed Satomi Kinjo of Japan and eighth seed Sabrina Damakio of Argentina will also be in action with eight of 16 first-round matches scheduled for Monday.
The final day of qualifying tournament turned out to be a heart-breaker for the Indian girls as only one of the five in the fray made it to the main draw.
Nona Wagh defeated Vishika Chhetri 6-3 1-6 6-0 to qualify but faces promising wildcard Sonal Phadke in first round on Tuesday. As a qualifier in Mumbai, Sonal had stunned third seed Urska and then beat Satomi in semis before bowing to Sai.