New Delhi: The young men from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu made it a memorable day for themselves as Saketh Myneni and Vishnu Vardhan stormed into the semi-finals of the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship here on Thursday.
On a pleasant day at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi, Vishnu once again had to play just percentage tennis to outsmart SV Abhishek 6-2, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
Quite often, the favourites find the going tough in the latter stages of the tournament. But in the case of athletic and sturdy Vishnu, his matches this week have been quite comfortable. As one who has camped at the baseline and grinded out his shots for most part, Vishnu did not have to worry about getting hurt by his opponent Abhishek’s shots. But where Vishnu really won the match today was his ability to play consistently and not make errors.
As for Saketh Myneni, the Andhra boy has learnt well to pace himself out this week. Perhaps, the good experience of winning matches in recent times helped him play solid against Vijay Prashanth as he won 6-3, 6-1.
Meanwhile, the performance of Delhi boy Yuki Bhambri also cannot be discounted. Yuki did not have to stretch himself as he pummeled Ankit Sachdeva 6-1, 6-3. Yuki’s game plan was simple, camp at the baseline and whack ground strokes on either flank with assurance. As one who has grown up learning the bread and butter strokes in the Capital, Yuki imparted a lot of weight into his shots. However, what was a matter of concern was that he rarely made approaches to the net.
Mohit M Jayaprakash from TN won against Kaza V Sharma with a score of
In the women’s section, Isha Lakhani once again showed that her hunger for success is not yet over. Despite marriage and running a tennis coaching programme in New Delhi, Isha showed that when it comes to winning matches, she still has the punch.
Up against the seasoned Sheetal Goutham, Isha worked up a good pace. Her aggression and angle of shots hit from the mid-court was tough for Sheetal, who at best was a counter-puncher.
“It has been an exciting run for me. I am enjoying this run,” said Isha.
There was one more seasoned campaigner who showed that at 34, her hunger for success is not yet over. Chennai-based Rushmi Chakravarthy, who has been part of the national circuit for almost two decades, whipped Shivika Burman 6-0, 6-2.
Tall and lanky Rushmi loves to hit the ball on the rise and imparts a thwack when she times it sweetly. Against the younger Shivika, Rushmi was on song as she hit flat and deep strokes.
Another entrant into the semi-finals was Soujanya Bavishetti as she beat Rishika Sunkara 6-7 (5), 7-5, 4-0 in a long-drawn affair.
Pune’s Rutuja Bhosale had to work hard, Rutuja had a injury earlier in the day but still gave a strong fight to Prarthana Thombare and won with 6-2, 6-3 .
