Kazakhstan's Zhibek Kulambaeva (473) defeated Japan's Mei Yamaguchi (282) for the second time in three days at the Chennai Open-2026 in India. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

Victory in qualifying

In qualifying, the 26-year-old Kulambaeva beat the 27-year-old Yamaguchi in three sets 3:6, 6:3, 7:6 (7:4). At the start of the main draw (the Japanese player received lucky loser status), she won in two sets 6:4, 7:5.

Main draw match

The rematch, long delayed due to bad weather in Chennai, Zhibek started with a break. Taking her opponent's serve in the very first game, our tennis player repeated the same in the seventh game. At 5:2, Kulambaeva was serving for the set but lost two games in a row. After that, she still took the set on her second set point – 6:4.

The second set resembled an attraction of unprecedented generosity. The opponents together gave each other nine of their serves. Kulambaeva made one more break. And stopped the match time at 1 hour 55 minutes – 6:4, 7:5.

Next opponent

In the second round, the Kazakhstani will face another Japanese player. The 27-year-old Mai Hontama (160) won at the start against Mananchaya Sawangkaew (77) of Thailand – 7:6 (7:3), 6:2.

Kulambaeva will also play in the doubles in Chennai. The Kazakhstani's partner, who entered the Top 100 of the doubles ranking for the first time (95), will be Australia's Gabriella Da Silva Fick (151). And her first opponents will be Japan's Hiroko Kuwata (163) and India's Ankita Raina (143).

Tournament history

The women's professional hard-court tennis tournament Chennai Open, formerly called the Indian Open, has been held since 2003. In various cities of India and with various statuses.

In 2008, it was won by Venus Williams. A year before that, the trophy went to future Kazakhstani Yaroslava Shvedova, who then still played under the flag of Russia. Besides Williams and Shvedova, Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn, Australian Nicole Pratt, Czech Linda Fruhvirtova and others have won here.

After the restructuring of the WTA Tour, the tournament was not held from 2009 to 2022. The current WTA-250 tournament with a prize fund of $283.3 thousand is the last in Chennai. From next year, the competitions will be held in the Philippines.

The current Chennai Open champion, Janice Tjen (38) from Indonesia, will play in two categories at Chennai-2026.