Pranjala yadlapalli beats top seed for $25,000 title in Nigeria

Sixth seed Pranjala Yadlapalli recovered from the brink of defeat to beat the 144th ranked top seed Conny Perrin of Switzerland 2-6, 7-5, 6-0 in the final of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Lagos, Nigeria, on Saturday.

It was the second singles title for the 19-year-old Pranjala, who has won two $25,000 doubles titles this season with Rutuja Bhosale this season. Pranjala has six doubles titles in all.

After the tough start, Pranjala turned the match around despite trailing 0-40 on her serve at 5-5 in the second set. From there, she won nine of 10 points to clinch the set.

In the decider, Pranjala faced a breakpoint in the fifth game, but conceded only eight points in all to the 27-year-old Swiss player who has a dozen singles titles to her credit in the professional circuit.

Pranjala had not dropped a set in the first four rounds, and regained her composure nicely in the final to assert her supremacy.

In the Challenger in Mexico, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan in partnership with Marcelo Arevalo of Mexico, made the doubles final. Jeevan may face top seeds Leander Paes and partner Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela of Mexico who were scheduled to face the Aussies, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Matt Reid in the semifinals.

In the $750,000 WTA event in China, Ankita Raina scored a 6-4, 7-5 victory over wild card Zhang Ying in the first qualifying round. She will face seventh seed Zhang Yuxuan of China in the second and final round.

The results:

$750,000 WTA, Tianjin, China
Qualifying singles (first round): Ankita Raina bt Zhang Ying (Chn) 6-4, 7-5.

$150,000 Challenger men, Monterrey, Mexico
Doubles (semifinals): Marcelo Arevalo (Mex) & Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan bt Andre Begemann (Ger) & Filip Polasek (Svk) 6-3, 7-6(9).

$25,000 ITF women, Lagos, Nigeria
Singles (final): Pranjala Yadlapalli bt Conny Perrin (Sui) 2-6, 7-5, 6-0.