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Nirupama in Mahwah challenger semis

India's top women's tennis player Nirupama Vaidyanathan stormed into the semi-finals of the $50,000 Mahwah challenger in New Jersy (USA) on Wednesday after defeating sixth seed Jill Craybas of the United States 7-5, 6-3.

This is Nirupama first semi-final since the Delhi challenger last September. The last time she reached a semi-final in a challenger with over $25,000 prize-money was three years back, at Bronx.

The effort gives her 22 points (6 bonus points), the highest attained in her career. In the last two weeks she picked 35 points to add to her tally of 102, which will bring her up by about 20 spots and near the 190 ranking.

She faces the winner of the quarter-final match between Tracy Singian and Dawn Buth. If she wins in the semi-final, it will be her first Challenger final since 1996.

Earlier Nirupama defeated Korea's Yoon-Jeong Cho 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in the pre-quarter-finals.

In doubles also, Nirupama made it to the quarter-finals pairing with E.Dominikovic. They defeated Kelly Hyndman/Marie Eve Pelletier 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the earlier round.