Seventeen-year-old Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi has reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 250 Chennai Open, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach the last eight of a WTA Tour-level singles event.
The wild card, ranked world No. 669, beat Polish qualifier Weronika Falkowska, ranked No. 277, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round at the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday, 4 November. The win ended a wait of almost 15 years for an Indian woman to reach a Tour-level singles quarter-final, with Mirza’s last such run coming at Pattaya in 2012.
Maaya’s run had already produced a first Tour-level win. She stunned eighth seed Katarzyna Kawa of Poland, ranked No. 115, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(5) in the first round — a match in which she rallied from 1-4 and 2-5 down in the deciding set, according to Indian Tennis Daily’s match report. No Indian player had gone beyond the second round in the tournament’s previous two editions.
A breakthrough built on a breakthrough season
The Chennai run caps a rapid rise for the Coimbatore teenager. Maaya won her first professional singles title at a W35 event in Lagos, Portugal, in October 2026, beating Spain’s Celia Cervino Ruiz 6-4, 6-2, and also won the doubles title there with Yelyzaveta Kotliar. She has moved her training base from the Rafa Nadal Academy to the Elite Tennis Centre in France, a change noted in pre-tournament coverage.
Her progress matters beyond one tournament. Indian women’s tennis has waited since Mirza’s Pattaya quarter-final in February 2012 for another Tour-level last-eight appearance, and Maaya is only the second Indian woman, after Mirza, to reach that stage at Tour level, according to Indian Tennis Daily’s post-match coverage. The Chennai Open, a WTA 250 event with a prize purse of US$283,347, runs until 8 November and is the final edition in Chennai before the event moves to the Philippines next year.
What comes next
Maaya will face American Robin Montgomery in the quarter-final for a place in the semi-finals. Montgomery, ranked No. 144 and unseeded, beat Belgium’s Jeline Vandromme 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in the second round. Montgomery is a former junior US Open champion, and the match is a meeting of two young players who came through the junior ranks with high expectations.
The rest of the draw underlines how open the tournament is. Top seed Janice Tjen of Indonesia beat Joanna Garland 7-6(1), 6-1, while sixth seed Polina Kudermetova beat Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-3, 6-0. Maaya’s quarter-final is therefore not a ceremonial appearance: a win would put her into a WTA semi-final at 17, in front of a home crowd.
Why it matters
For Indian tennis, the significance is straightforward. A 17-year-old wild card ranked outside the top 600 has beaten a top-115 seed and a top-300 qualifier in consecutive matches at Tour level. That is the kind of result that changes a player’s ranking trajectory and, just as importantly, gives the next generation of Indian players a current example to point to — the first since Mirza.
It is also worth keeping the achievement in proportion. One quarter-final does not make a career, and former players have already urged patience with Maaya’s development. But as a single week, Chennai 2026 is already historic for Indian women’s tennis, whatever happens against Montgomery.
FAQ
Who is Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi? A 17-year-old Indian tennis player from Coimbatore, ranked world No. 669, who entered the Chennai Open as a wild card.
Who was the last Indian woman to reach a WTA quarter-final before her? Sania Mirza, at Pattaya in 2012 — almost 15 years before Maaya’s Chennai run.
Who did Maaya beat to reach the quarter-finals? Eighth seed Katarzyna Kawa in the first round, then Polish qualifier Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3 in the second round.
Who does Maaya play next? American Robin Montgomery, ranked No. 144, in the quarter-final.
Sources
- PTI via Rediff: https://www.rediff.com/sports/report/maaya-rajeshwaran-revathi-makes-history-in-wta-tour-quarterfinals/20261104.htm
- Sportstar / The Hindu: https://sportstar.thehindu.com/tennis/wta-250-chennai-open-2026-maaya-rajeshwaran-makes-quarterfinal-sania-mirza-historic-tour-level/article71667335.ece
- Times Now: https://www.timesnownews.com/sports/tennis/17-year-old-maaya-rajeshwaran-revathi-creates-history-becomes-first-indian-since-sania-mirza-in-2012-to-achieve-huge-feat-article-156466072/amp
- Indian Tennis Daily: https://indiantennisdaily.com/2026/11/04/17-year-old-maaya-rajeshwaran-revathi-becomes-first-indian-to-reach-chennai-open-quarterfinals/
