Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi has become the first Indian player to reach a WTA quarterfinal in 16 years after the 17-year-old wild card defeated Polish qualifier Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3 in the Chennai Open second round.

No Indian woman had progressed this far in a tour-level event since Pattaya 2012, the last quarterfinal run of Sania Mirza's illustrious career. Former No. 27 Mirza, who retired in 2023, is the only Indian woman to have won a WTA singles title (Hyderabad 2005) and made the fourth round of a Grand Slam (US Open 2005). She also made three further WTA singles finals and reached World No. 1 in doubles, winning 43 titles -- including three majors -- in that discipline.

Only one other Indian player has made it to a WTA quarterfinal this century -- former No. 122 Shikha Uberoi, who reached the last eight at Kolkata 2005.

After a season-long race, the world's top players converge in the California desert with the WTA's biggest title still to be won.

Rajeshwaran Revathi has already marked herself as one to watch in her young career. Last February, she reached the Mumbai WTA 125 semifinals in just her fourth professional tournament as a 15-year-old qualifier. Four weeks ago, she collected her first professional title at the Lagos W35 in Portugal, again as a qualifier -- a run that included overturning a 5-0 first-set deficit against No. 1 seed Justina Mikulskyte in the first round -- lifting her ranking to No. 669 this week. She's also risen to No. 16 in juniors this week.

The teenager has shown her battling qualities again in front of home fans in Chennai, coming from 5-2 down in the third set to upset No. 8 seed Katarzyna Kawa in her opener for her first defeat of a Top 120 opponent. Against No. 277-ranked Falkowska, she took control from 4-2 down in the first set with controlled aggression and impressive court craft.

Rajeshwaran Revathi is the fourth player born in 2009 or later to have made a WTA quarterfinal, following 2025 Bogota semifinalist Julieta Pareja, 2026 Memphis champion Kristina Liutova and last week's Guangzhou semifinalist Sun Xinran. She'll bid to keep her dream run going against 's-Hertogenbosch champion Robin Montgomery, who escaped Jeline Vandromme 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 from 5-3 down in the decider.

Indian No. 1 Vaishnavi Adkar has the opportunity to join Rajeshwaran Revathi on Thursday when the No. 344-ranked wild card takes on No. 7 seed Anastasia Zakharova. Should Adkar, 21, succeed, it would mark the first time in the Open Era that two Indian women have made the quarterfinals of a WTA tournament.