Jil Teichmann wins Mumbai Open to continue climb back to top 100
Jil Teichmann wins the L&T Mumbai Open, defeating Manachaya Sawangkaew 6-3, 6-4, aiming to return to the top 100 in women's tennis.
Mumbai: Jil Teichmann bent down, and with soft hands, cushioned a volley to kill off the point. With both fists clenched, she let out a roar, “allez”. Those calls of “come on” was her go-to war cry as she took on Manachaya Sawangkaew of Thailand in the final of the L&T Mumbai Open here on Sunday.
That final cry was a shout in triumph as she clinched the WTA 125 title with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
“It was definitely a goal for me to win this trophy,” said Teichmann, currently world No.117, after the match. “This is just one step that I made and I hope to keep moving forward.”
The win on Sunday is likely to see the former world No.21 break back into the top 100 as she takes steady steps back into the upper echelons of women’s tennis. Injuries through most of 2023 and the early part of 2024 saw her ranking drop. She asserts that she had to rely on the process to get back to where she is and push further.
“I’ve had a lot of tough moments,” she said. “I’m happy it happened because I got to learn a lot about myself as a player and reflect more. (The most important thing I learnt) was to just get through it. It sounds weird but you’re going to survive and that’s going to make you stronger. Just to believe in it.”
There was plenty of belief on display on Sunday as the left-hander played an aggressive style of tennis, mixing topspin with flat strokes while also making frequent forays to the net.
Sawangkaew did make the match tough as she would not go away easily. But eventually Teichmann managed to find the lines a bit more frequently than the Thai to secure the win.
Prarthana Thombare loses tight doubles final
Indian doubles player Prarthana Thombare and Dutch partner Arianne Hartono lost a close doubles final to all-Russian second seeds Elena Pridankina and Amina Anshba.
The Indo-Dutch duo lost 6-7 (4), 6-2, 7-10, losing in the final of the Mumbai Open for the second year in a row. Last year, Thombare and Hartono lost in the final to Dalila Jakupovic and Sabrina Santamaria.