Linette dethrones Tjen to win Chennai Open title

Chennai: Four years after letting a Chennai Open title slip away from a set up, Poland's Magda Linette lifted the trophy after the Pole defeated top-seeded and defending champion Janice Tjen of Indonesia in the Chennai Open final on Monday.

Linette, who had previously been the Chennai runner-up in 2022 to Linda Fruhvirtova, registered a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 win in two hours and 43 minutes in a summit clash, which had been postponed by a day due to adverse weather conditions.

This is the fourth WTA trophy of Linette's career as Chennai 2026 joins The Bronx 2019, Hua Hin 2020 and Prague 2024 in her haul.

Chennai marked Linette's ninth career final, and the first tournament at which she has contested multiple finals -- but she had a demon to exorcise from her previous title match here. Back in 2022, she led Linda Fruhvirtova 4-1 in the third set of the final, only to lose 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Tjen, meanwhile, was looking to defend the crown; she first won 12 months ago against Linette, who won her first title in more than two years. Tjen was also seeking to become the first repeat champion in Chennai.

The final between Linette and Tjen was originally scheduled on Sunday, was postponed to Monday at 11 AM due to rain and heavy smoke that engulfed the SDAT Tennis Stadium due to Diwali fireworks, preventing the singles championship match from getting underway.

The tournament organisers announced the rescheduling through an official notice, confirming that tickets issued for November 8 would remain valid for entry on November 9.

However, the doubles final was managed to completion on Sunday, where the Swiss pairing of Naima Karamoko and Simona Waltert defeated India's Vaishnavi Adkar and Rutuja Bhosale, 6-2, 6-0 for their first title as a pair.

Naima and Simona were contesting their first tournament together and beat No. 1 seeds Momoko Kobori and Peangtarn Plipuech in the quarterfinals earlier in the week.

Adkar and Bhosale, meanwhile, were the first all-Indian team to reach a doubles final on the WTA Tour and upset No. 2 seeds Weronika Falkowska and Alana Smith in the semifinals.

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