Chennai, Nov. 3 -- Pushed to the brink of defeat and battling exhausting humidity, Vaishnavi Adkar produced a stirring display of grit and endurance to overturn a 3-5 deficit in the deciding set and beat Britain's Jodie Burrage 3-6 6-3 7-5 for her maiden WTA Tour-level victory at the Chennai Open here on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old Pune player, who has been making steady progress on the international circuit, had to dig deep against the experienced Burrage, a former top-100 player who has featured in Grand Slam main draws on multiple occasions.
Vaishnavi, who had a nervous start and lost the opening set, raised her level considerably in the second, improving her returns and finding greater consistency from the baseline to draw level.
She broke Burrage twice in the set, despite surrendering her own serve once, to force a decider after an intense middle phase in which both players struggled to hold serve.
The Indian appeared in control after securing an early break in the decider, but the experienced Briton fought back to take a 5-3 lead and move within a game of victory.
Vaishnavi, however, produced a remarkable late fightback, winning four games in a row to turn the match around, breaking Burrage twice before serving out the contest at love to seal a landmark victory.
Earlier, the Indian endured a nervous start, losing eight consecutive points and dropping her serve in the second game.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.