Mumbai: Vaishnavi Adkar backed up her breakthrough run in ITF Bengaluru a couple of weeks ago by going one better and winning the singles title at ITF W35 Kalaburagi on Sunday.
The 21-year-old beat her senior compatriot Ankita Raina 7-6(3), 6-4 in the final, after going past the top seed in the last four.
This is Vaishnavi’s first singles title in two years after winning the W15 in Ahmedabad in 2024, and the best of her young career. More pertinently, it comes two weeks after she produced a breakthrough week at the W100 Bengaluru where she finished the singles runner-up as a wildcard.
That week helped her leapfrog 224 places to break into the top 400 of the WTA rankings and become the new India No.2 in women’s singles. This week is set to take the current world No.468 into the top-400 when the updated rankings are published on Monday. She will be breathing down the neck of India No.1 – Sahaja Yamalapalli at No.393.
Vaishnavi has shown promising singles form this season, going as far as the semi-finals at least in three of her last five tournaments. Her decision to shift her training base from Pune to the Rohan Bopanna Tennis Academy in Bengaluru last month appears to be paying dividends. With former Grand Slam doubles champion Bopanna and experienced coach Balachandran Manikkath guiding her, the youngster’s support team is solid.
A reflection of her growth over the last year can be gauged from the fact that Ankita had swept her away 6-2, 6-2 in the first round of the WTA 125 Mumbai Open in February 2025. On Sunday, Vaishnavi turned the tables on her senior compatriot. The two women from Pune also won the Kalaburagi doubles title on Saturday.
Vaishnavi’s rise has earned her a maiden India call-up. She is part of the squad for the Billie Jean King Cup Asia-Oceania Group I tournament to be held in New Delhi next month. Given the youngster’s form and surge in rankings, captain Vishal Uppal could well field her over more experienced players for singles contests.
