By virtue of her quarters run in Chennai, Maaya has leaped from No. 669 to No. 489 in the live WTA rankings. (File/ Special Arrangement)At Lagos last month, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi overcame a 0-5 first-set deficit against top seed Justina Mikulskyte in the first round. She went on to claim the title.Maaya then rallied from 2-5 down in the third set versus world No. 115 Katarzyna Kawa in her Chennai Open opener. Three days later, having already made history, the 17-year-old again found her back against the wall. There was no escape this time.United States’ Robin Montgomery was too composed, too consistent to let the lead slip. And so Maaya’s memorable campaign culminated with a 3-6, 3-6 defeat in the quarter-finals.Memorable, for she ended a 15-year wait in Indian women’s tennis — Sania Mirza was the last player from the country to reach the singles last eight of a WTA Tour-level tournament. Indian-American Shikha Uberoi is the only other one to have done that, back in 2005. Maaya beat Poland’s Weronika Falkowska in the Round of 16 to emulate Sania and Shikha. It was only her second WTA Tour main-draw win.The Coimbatore girl will thus always remember Chennai Open 2026 — the last edition of the WTA 250 event — as a stepping stone in her transition from juniors to seniors.On Friday, she began confidently, breaking Robin’s serve straight away. The 22-year-old American didn’t take kindly to the insult and went after everything the teen dished out from there on. She wrapped up the first set in 38 minutes.Robin only got stronger in the second set, using her double-handed forehands to powerful effect. But even as a one-sided loss became imminent, Maaya showed her promise.Story continues below this adAlso Read | What has Maaya Revathi learnt at Nadal’s spain academy? Eat rice, adapt to very slow clay court, and technical corrections from legendShe produced a series of deep groundstrokes off both flanks. Down 1-4 and two games away from bowing out, the Indian found her range to delight the home spectators momentarily. She broke back once and firmed up on serve. A smart inside-out forehand cut the deficit to 3-4. Robin, however, saw the emerging threat and stubbed it out. The 151-ranked American, who broke into the top-100 last year, closed out the match in 72 minutes.She had nothing but praise for Maaya. “I’m very glad to see someone like her come up in our sport. I think she has a very bright future,” Robin said courtside of her young opponent after the victory.Maaya got only a half-hour break before her doubles quarter-final alongside Shrivalli Bhamidipaty. She suffered a straight-sets defeat there too, losing to the Hungarian-Dutch combine of Panna Udvardy and Isabelle Haverlag 3-6, 4-6.Nevertheless, there was lots to cherish for the prodigy, chiefly the feeling that she belongs on the professional tour. “I’m more confident, (in) that I can compete better than I think,” Maaya told reporters later. She expectedly picked her first-round win over Kawa as her favourite of the three performances this campaign,as it looked most “like a battle”. She will take a well-deserved break now and rest for the next few weeks, before the pre-season training for 2027 gets underway.Story continues below this adBy virtue of her quarters run in Chennai, Maaya has leaped from No. 669 to No. 489 in the live WTA rankings. She sounded cautiously optimistic about what that leap means for her career. “It’s good, it’s part of the journey. I’m happy with what I’ve been doing, and yeah, I’ll be back for more,” the spunky 17-year-old signed off.