By IANS,
New Delhi : Top seed Emily Webley-Smith of Britain will be the favourite to win the second of the back-to-back 10,000 women’s International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournament that begins at the DLTA complex here Monday.
The 25-year-old Webley-Smith did not drop a set on course to her title win last week and also claimed the doubles title with Uzbek Alexandra Kolesnichenko, whom she beat in the singles final.
The 476th-ranked Indian Poojashree Venkatesh, who has just returned from an unimpressive outing in the $50,000 ITF event in Kazakhstan, has been seeded second. Anastesia Malhotra of Japan, who bowed out in the second round last week, is the third seed.
Fourth and fifth seeds, Isha Lakhani and Sanaa Bhambri, who made to the semi-final last week, are expected to give a tough fight to the top contenders.
In the presence of just three foreigners in the qualifying round, it is the Indians who secured all the eight places in the main draw.
Rishika Sunkara, Prerna Bhambri, Sowjanya Bavisetti and Ankita Raina have been given the wildcards.