Vaishnavi Adkar and Rutuja Bhosale achieve historic feat in Chennai Open Tennis

A new chapter has been written in the history of Indian women's tennis. The Indian duo of Vaishnavi Adkar and Rutuja Bhosale has created history at the Chennai Open tennis tournament. In a thrilling semi-final match played on Saturday, 7 November, 2026, the pair successfully reached the doubles final. With this achievement, they have become the first all-Indian pair to reach a Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour level doubles final.

In the semi-final of this prestigious tournament being played on ground, the Indian pair secured a victory against the second seeds, Poland's Veronika Falkowska and America's Alana Smith. The match was filled with many unexpected turns. The Indian pair won with a score of 6-2, 2-6, 10-8. In the decisive super tie-break of the match, when the Polish-American duo was preparing to win the match, the Indian players maintained their morale and presented an incredible comeback.

The start of the match was in favour of the Indian pair. In the first set, Vaishnavi Adkar and Rutuja Bhosale appeared to be in complete control. They took a strong 4-1 lead by taking advantage of the opponents' errors. In the third game of the match, Adkar secured the first break with an aggressive return on Smith's second serve, which Falkowska could not play. Subsequently, Bhosale increased the advantage by maintaining her serve. Following a forehand error by Falkowska, Bhosale established a double-break distance with a powerful forehand return. The second-seeded duo could not fight against this pressure, and the Indian pair easily won the first set.

However, the balance of the match changed in the second set. The Indian pair missed opportunities to break Smith and Falkowska in the third and fifth games, which increased the confidence of the opposing duo. Difficulties increased for Adkar in the sixth game, where she lost her serve by committing two consecutive double faults. During this time, Adkar had to take a medical timeout due to discomfort in her left thigh, as she had also taken medical assistance during the singles second round. Subsequently, Bhosale also came under pressure during her serve, and the second-seeded duo used one of her three break points to bring the match to one set apiece.

The decisive super tie-break made the match extremely thrilling. Falkowska and Smith initially took a 3-0 lead, but the Indian pair refused to accept defeat. Bhosale secured a good point, but subsequently, India fell behind 6-8 due to a double fault. Thereafter, they reduced the score by overpowering Smith with a forehand winner. Finally, Adkar secured the match point with a winning volley and then sealed the historic victory with a brilliant forehand down-the-line shot. Both players celebrated with this win.

This achievement is extremely important for Indian women's tennis as previously no all-Indian pair had ever reached a main WTA Tour level final. In 2005, Shikha Uberoi and her sister Neha reached the finals of the Sunfeast Open and Guangzhou Open, but since Neha represented America, they were considered an Indo-American pair. Ankita Raina and Karman Thandi won a WTA 125 level doubles title in 2018, which is a level below the main tour. Additionally, Prarthana Thombare reached three WTA 125 finals with Dutch player Arjen Hartog. India's former player Sania Mirza won 43 doubles titles during her career, but she never achieved these wins by partnering with an Indian player.

Now, Vaishnavi Adkar and Rutuja Bhosale will face the Swiss duo Naima Karakoki and Simona Walter in the final.