Tanvi, Devika lead Indian charge at US Open

World Junior Championships silver medallist Tanvi Sharma and Thailand Masters winner Devika Sihag began their US Open campaigns with convincing victories in the women’s singles draw on Thursday.

Tanvi overcame Germany’s Yvonne Li 23-21, 21-16, while Devika defeated Peru’s Ines Lucia Castillo 21-14, 21-14 to move into the second round.

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In the men’s singles competition, Rounak Chouhan came out on top in an all-Indian contest against former world junior silver medallist S. Sankar Muthusamy, winning 23-21, 21-16. Fifth seed Kidambi Srikanth also progressed comfortably, beating fellow Indian D. Saneeth 21-14, 21-12 in just 30 minutes.

Rakshitha Sree also advanced in the women’s singles draw after a dominant 21-15, 21-8 victory over Czech Republic’s Tereza Svabikova.

India enjoyed success in mixed doubles as well, with the seventh-seeded pair of Dhruv Rawat and K. Maneesha defeating Indonesia’s Wirawan Ihsan Adam and Serena Kani 21-15, 21-16 in just 26 minutes to book their place in the next round.

Earlier, women’s doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand made a winning start to their campaign by overcoming Spain’s Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez in a hard-fought first-round match.

Treesa and Gayatri are India’s only representatives in the women’s doubles event. The tournament also marks their return to competition after Treesa spent three months recovering from an injury. The pair had resumed action earlier this month at the Indonesia Open.

India, however, do not have any entries in the men’s doubles draw. Asian Games champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are unavailable, with Satwik still recovering from the injury he suffered during the Indonesia Open.

Meanwhile, defending men’s singles champion Ayush Shetty is not participating this year and will not defend the title he won at the US Open in 2025. Former champion HS Prannoy has also skipped the tournament.