'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
India’s Sahaja Yamalapalli said that she aspires to play in Grand Slam qualifiers by the end of 2024.
The World No. 336 is currently taking part in the L&T Mumbai Open WTA 125K Series Tennis Championships and has been impressive.
Yamalapalli, who entered the championship as a wildcard, had never faced a player in the top 100. But on Monday (February 5), she took down World No. 92 Kayla Day and pulled off a massive upset.
The 23-year-old won the match 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to show that she was not there in the tournament to just make up the numbers.
Trending
Sahaja Yamalapalli was quoted as saying in the press release:
“I don't want to say a ranking like a number. Of course, I want to build on this, keep working on my game. I think there's still a lot more to learn and a lot more things to improve. There's always things to improve.”
“So, I just want to take this match, take the confidence and motivation and keep going. And you know I want to at the end of the year play the qualifying at the Grand Slams. I'm going to keep working hard and keep going towards it.”
"This is a big win for me" - Sahaja Yamalapalli after beating the top seed
Yamalapalli was impressive with her first serves, winning 70 percent of points (35 out of 50). Although she converted four break points, one less than Day, it did not make a difference to the eventual result.
The youngster said that her confidence has been boosted after beating Day and added that she would now be looking to put in the hard yards to improve further.
She was quoted as saying in the aforementioned press release:
“This is a big win for me, especially at this point of my career, it's very motivating. It's really pushing me to do better, push harder and more practices and really go out there and get more wins in, on the big stage. So, I'm really happy to get this.”
In her next match, Yamalapalli would face Russia’s Polina Kudermetova, who is ranked No. 162 in the world.
