Who Is Vaishnavi Adkar? Women's Singles Player Who Made History At The W100 Bengaluru Open 2026

While the world is watching the likes of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka shine, Indian Tennis is suffering from a singles player crisis across men's and women's. There is a visible absence of Indian players in the top 100 of the ATP and WTA rankings.

Despite the legendary doubles success of veterans like Rohan Bopanna, who achieved World No. 1 status in 2024 at age 44, the singles cupboard remains worryingly bare. Sumit Nagal, who broke into the top 100 in 2024, has recently slipped to World No. 297 following a series of early exits, and the national women's contingent lacks a consistent presence even in the top 300.

Men's singles got a glimmer a hope when in February 2026, Dakshineshwar Suresh pulled off one of the greatest individual performances in Indian Davis Cup history. During the World Group I Qualifiers in Bengaluru, the 25-year-old was the architect of India’s stunning 3–2 upset over the World No. 6 Netherlands.

On the other hand, the Indian women's singles is in a state of transition. While the gap left by Sania Mirza remains large, a cluster of young players is finally pushing into the mid-hundreds of the WTA rankings. Alone with Sahaja Yamalapalli, Ankita Raina, a name that has recently made the headlines is Vaishnavi Adkar.

Who Is Vaishnavi Adkar?

Vaishnavi was born on December 14, 2004, in Pune, Maharashtra. Her parents enrolled her and her younger sister, Asmi, in sports because they wanted them to be physically active and not make mischiefs at home. Her mother, Gauri, specifically chose tennis because of her own personal interest in the sport.

Vaishnavi began playing at the age of six or seven. She started her U-12 training at the Bounce Tennis Academy in Pune under coach Kedar Shah.

Coach Shah recognized her natural ability to hit the ball extremely hard and encouraged her aggressive style rather than forcing a defensive game, even when she was physically smaller than her opponents.

Vaishnavi officially turned professional in 2022 after a successful junior career where she reached a career-high ITF Junior Ranking of No. 115 and was India’s top-ranked Under-14 player. She won her first professional singles title at the ITF W15 in Ahmedabad in 2024.

In late 2024 and early 2025, she struggled with early exits in Europe and self-doubt creeped in. But her parents assured her and she persisted.

Vaishnavi became the first Indian woman tennis player to win a medal at the World University Games at Rhine-Ruhr, Germany. She clinched the bronze medal in the women’s singles event, ending a 46-year medal drought for India in tennis at this competition. Before her, the only other Indian to win a tennis medal at the Games was Nandan Bal, who won silver in 1979.

A big move in her career came after that as she switched from Pune to Bengaluru in early 2026 to join the Rohan Bopanna Tennis Academy (RBTA) to train under Rohan Bopanna and coach M. Balachandran. At the RBTA, she started to develop her tactical game and focused on shot selection more than using her raw power.

In February 2026, she entered the W100 Bengaluru Open as a wildcard (ranked 690) and reached the final, becoming the first Indian woman to do so since Sania Mirza in 2009. This run propelled her to a career-high ranking of World No. 466.

After he success at the Bengaluru Open, she credited her composure, powerful backhand for her success at the event. “It was a very solid week for me, learned a lot of things and especially after a tough year last year, a week like this is really going to be helpful. I already feel so much better about my game and it has helped a lot with the self-belief and confidence,"

Now, she is expecting to make it to the team for the Fed Cup coming up in April. “That has been one of my goals for a few years now. So hopefully, I do get in this time."

As of late February 2026, Vaishnavi Adkar is the India No. 2 in women's singles.