India's wild card entry Iciri Rai stole the second day's honours when she shocked No. 3 seed Chin Bee Khoo of Malaysia 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the second round, in the Mother's Recipe-ITF US$10,000 Women's Futures Tennis Tournament at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Rai, ranked 782 in the Women's Tennis Association rankings, was joined by top seed Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei, who rallied to a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over unseeded Thassha Vitayaviroj of Thailand.
Khoo reached the semi-finals in this tournament last year and was familiar with the conditions in Mumbai. Though her game was marred by five double-faults in the one hour 20-minute match, she fired two aces in the third game of the first set and enjoyed a good percentage of first serves.
But as games went with serve until 3-3 in the opening set, Rai earned crucial breaks in the seventh and ninth games to take the set in 35 minutes.
Khoo, who failed to take advantage of Rai's triple double-fault in the second game of the first set, made amends with an improved display in the second set. Games went with serve again as Rai, whose game was also blemished with five double-faults, led 5-4. But the Indian broke Khoo in the 10th game to seal the set in 45 minutes.
Rai was not so fortunate in the doubles. Chinese pair Yan-Hua Dong and Jie Hao overcame Rai and partner Preeti Rao 6-1, 7-5 in a first round tie.
Late Monday evening, No. 2 seed Rushmi Chakravarthi of India also entered the second round with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 win over lucky loser Ji Young Kim of Korea, while fifth seed Sai Jayalakshmy-Jayaram crashed out after going down to qualifier Shu Jing Yang of China 6-1, 6-3.
Results (Singles Main Draw, 1st Round): Chia-Jung Chuang (China) bt Thassha Vitayaviroj (Thailand) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4; Iciri Rai (India) bt Chin Bee Khoo (Malaysia) 6-3, 6-4; Montinee Tangphong (Thailand) bt Stephanie Greau (France) 6-1, 6-4.
Doubles: Shu Jing Yang/Ying Yu (China) bt Yan Chong Chen/Shan Shan Song (China) 6-2, 7-5.
