Chennai (India) – Luísa Stefani’s return to the circuit continues with positive results. For her first tournament after a year of absence due to injury and knee surgery, she is already in the semi-finals of the WTA 250 in Chennai, alongside Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski. Key headsStefani and Dabrowski beat Indians Rutuja Bhosale and Karman Thandi by 6/0 and 6/3.

Winner of three doubles tournaments on the WTA circuit, Luísa Stefani is trying to reach her 12th career final and her fifth alongside Dabrowski. The opponents in the semi-finals will be Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima.

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Former world number 9 among doubles specialists, Stefani currently only appears in 718th place in the rankings, with 55 points. She lost Monday’s 780 points in last year’s US Open semi-final when she injured her knee ligament. The campaign to the semi-finals earns 110 points for the 25-year-old from São Paulo, who is back in the top 500. She could end the tournament in around 250th place if she wins.

The first set was very smooth for Stefani and Dabrowski, who didn’t face any break points and only conceded four points in their service games. In the second game, the Indians managed to break serve early on, but the top seeds quickly looked for a 2/2 tie. Stefani and Dabrowski would no longer have the serve threatened and would break again in the penultimate game of the match.