Isha Lakhani topples
Archana Venkataraman

Wild card Isha Lakhani caused the first major upset in the second leg of the 5,000 dollar ITF women's tennis championship when she downed sixth seed Archana Venkataraman in straight sets at the CP Club courts in Nagpur on Tuesday.

Lakhani won 6-3, 7-5 to move into the second round.

National grasscourt champion Sai Jayalakshmi, who lost in the final of the first leg in Mumbai last week, needed just half an hour to rout Chirashanti Mohan Rajur 6-0, 6-2.

Lucky loser in the qualifying round Rati Kumar had a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 over another qualifier Kanisha Mehta to advance into the second round.

Meanwhile, the other seeded players who sailed into the next round included Mumbai leg winner Samrita Sekar, who ousted Nagpur girl Lata Asssudani 6-4, 6-0; second seed Radhika Tulpule, who had little difficulty in eliminating qualifier Iciri Rai 6-1,6-2; and fifth seed Gautam Sheetal, who made a short work of Sonal Sanap 6-1, 6-1.

The day, however, belonged to junior champion Isha, who made Archana scamper all over the court. Playing an attacking game, Isha broke Archana early in the first set and consolidated the lead to gain the upper hand and claim the set 6-3.

However, Archana came back strongly in the second set, but Isha held her nerves to break the opponent's serve after being level at 5-5 and then held serve to win the set at 7-5 and the match.

Earlier, in the doubles, the top seeded pair of Sai Jayalakshmi and Radhika Tulpule routed Kanish Mehta and Sonal Sanap 6-0, 6-1, while the second seeded pair of Goutam Sheetal and Liza Pereira, though down in the first set at 3-6, raised their game to win the next two sets at 6-3, 6-2.

The local pair of Rati Kumar and Lata Assudani did not lose a single game in eliminating Kalpita Raje and Deepa Engade 6-0, 6-0.

Ankita Bhambri and Sonal Phadke survived a scare before overcoming Geeta Manoharaan and Eveline Rusidianto 6-4, 0-6, 7-5.

In the last encounter, Samrita Sekar and Archanta Venkataraman outclassed the sister pair of Anupuma Rajur and Chirashanti Rajur 6-1, 6-1.