New Delhi: Last year's champions stayed on course for winning the title again in the Fensta Open tennis championship as Vishnu Vardhan and Prerna Bhambri came through their semi-finals at DLTA in the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship on Friday.
Vishnu, a battle hardened pro who knows the perimeter of the court well in the capital needed to use his rich experience to get past VM Ranjeet 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) while Prerna, three-time Fenesta champion ousted top seed Snehadevi Reddy 6-0, 6-3.
The Men's singles final promises to be an exciting one as Vishnu will lock horns with Sriram Balaji, the qualifier who has had a golden run this month at the Fenesta nationals. Balaji was tested by the hard working Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash but in the end Balaji, from Chennai, won 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
Prerna will be up against the inexperienced Sai Samitha Chamathi as the relative newcomer beat Pranjala Yadlapalli in a ding dong battle. Sai eventually won 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.
The form book and track record suggests Prerna can pull it off once again in the final but Sai looks more fresh on court.
On a hot day, Sai was patience personified from the baseline as she kept pegging at her opponent. She also played the big points better which in the dry heat. Sai will be the underdog but for sheer strokes she has played this week, she could test Prerna inSaturday's finale. For the record, the match lasted over two and a half hours.
Back to Balaji, the compact player that he is, he used his weapons to good effect against Mohit. Mohit had his chances, especially in the second set when Balaji was making sorties to the net but failed to nail the top seed.
In the Boys under-18 section, Aryan Goveas has a chance to win the maiden national title when he faces BR Nikshep in the final.
The Girls' under-18 title contest will be between Zeel Desai and Sathwika Sama.
The finals of the Mens' Doubles were an exciting affair with Sriram Balaji and VM Ranjeet winning the title by beating Shaikh Abdullah and Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash 6-0,6-7(4),10-6. In the Womens' Doubles finals the title was taken by Snehadevi Reddy and Dhruti Venugopal beat Sowjanya Bavesetti and Rishika Sunkara 6-3,6-4. In the Boys Under 18 Doubles the winners were Adil Kalyanpur and Parikshit Somani against Param Punj and Paramveer Bajwa 6-4,6-3. While Girls Under 18 Doubles winners were Sathwika Sama and Shivani Ingle against Prinkle Singh and Vaidehi Chaudhari 7-5,1-6,10-4.
Semi-final Results;
Men's Singles:
Sriram Balaji (Seed 1) bt Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash 7-6(4), 6-4
Vishnu Vardhan (Seed 2) bt V.M Ranjeet 6-4,7-6(4)
Women's Singles:
Samitha S Chamarthi bt Pranjala Yadlapalli 5-7,6-1,6-4
Prerna Bhambri (Seed 4) bt Snehadevi Reddy (Seed 1) 6-0,6-3
Boys Under 18:
Aryan Goveas (Seed 1) bt Nitin K Sinha 6-4,6-4
B.R Nikshep (Seed 2) bt Parikshit Somani 6-3,6-3
Girls Under 18:
Zeel Desai (Seed 1) bt Mahak Jain 8-0,6-7(4),6-1
Sathwika Sama bt Prinkle Singh 6-2,6-0
Finals:
Mens Doubles:
Sriram Balaji and VM Ranjeet bt Shaikh Abdullah and Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash 6-0,6-7(4),10-6
Womens Doubles:
Snehadevi Reddy and Dhruti Venugopal bt Sowjanya Bavesetti and Rishika Sunkara 6-3,6-4
Boys Under 18 Doubles:
Adil Kalyanpur and Parikshit Somani bt Param Punj and Paramveer Bajwa 6-4,6-3
Girls Under 18 Doubles
Sathwika Sama and Shivani Ingle bt Prinkle Singh and Vaidehi Chaudhari 7-5,1-6,10-4.
