Robin Montgomery ends Maaya Rajeshwaran's Chennai Open run

CHENNAI: The week offered wildcard Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi a glimpse of what she could achieve on the big stage. But her promising run came to an end in the WTA 250 Chennai Open quarterfinals after she went down 3-6, 3-6 to American Robin Montgomery here on Friday.Montgomery, a former junior US Open champion, will face defending champion Janice Tjen, who fought back from a set down to beat Polina Kudermetova 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the day’s opening last-eight match.The left-handed Montgomery thrives on pace from her opponents and at times looked uncomfortable when Maaya denied her that luxury. A slow, floating backhand first-serve return from 17-year-old Maaya forced the American to generate her own pace, but she could only find the net.Maaya capitalised and went on to break serve, taking a 3-2 lead. Moreover, world No. 151 Montgomery is prone to unforced errors, having committed 59 in her previous match. Maaya, therefore, needed to keep the ball in play and allow the American’s inconsistency to work against her.The Indian failed to do so, as the 21-year-old reeled off the next four games to close out the set in just 38 minutes.Maaya’s first-serve percentage in the opening set was just 52%, and her second serves were not threatening enough. With Montgomery accustomed to playing at the net, she made good use of the volley when required.In the match between Tjen and Polina, the former took charge after losing the opening. Polina had negated Tjen’s preferred backhand slices in the opening set, with the Uzbek constructing the rallies pretty well.However, from there on, she began throwing away points, committing 45 unforced errors, most of which came in the second and third sets. Polina’s inconsistency proved costly.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.