Sreeja Akula, India’s highest-ranked women’s singles player, made a first-round exit from the WTT Champions Frankfurt at the Suwag Energie Arena in Frankfurt, on Tuesday.
Sreeja, ranked 24th in the world rankings, lost to World No. 15 Adriana Diaz 3-11, 4-11, 8-11 in 18 minutes.
This was Sreeja’s second consecutive defeat to Diaz. At the WTT Champions Montpellier last month, the Indian paddler had lost to Diaz, also in her opening round match.
Unlike her 2-3 defeat to Diaz in Montpellier, Sreeja could not put up any fight against the Puerto Rico player in Frankfurt.
Sreeja made a lot of errors, with her forehand returns going wide and long. Sreeja has been out of shape since her Paris Olympics campaign where she reached the second round, squandering nine-game points in two games against World No. 1 Sun Yingsha.
Since her return to WTT events after the Paris Olympics, Sreeja could not surpass the first-round hurdle. She lost in the first round of China Smash, WTT Champions Montpellier and WTT Champions Frankfurt.
With the 26-year-old Sreeja’s exit, India’s campaign in the WTT Champions Frankfurt ended.
Earlier on Sunday, Manika Batra, the other Indian paddler in the fray, suffered a straight-game (6-11, 11-13, 11-6) defeat to South Korea’s Shin Yubin in the first round in 22 minutes. The 29-year-old Manika had made history in Montpellier by becoming the first Indian paddler to reach the quarterfinals of a WTT Champions event.
With only the top 32 players eligible to play in the elite WTT Champions event in Frankfurt, only Sreeja and Manika, ranked 27th, could make the cut from India.