New Delhi, Oct 9 — Doubles partners throughout the week, top seed Manish Sureshkumar and third seed Nitin Kumar Sinha faced off in the semifinals of the 31st Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship, the latter pulling off an upset win in a marathon clash at the DLTA in New Delhi on Friday.
After Sureshkumar, last year’s champion, claimed the opening set in a tiebreak, Sinha fought back to win the next two sets and seal a 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-1 victory. “It was a very long match, and it was very intense,” Sinha said after the win. “I just wanted to stay in it and see how it goes, and it became very physical. I am really happy with the way I fought and played the match.”
Sureshkumar and Sinha returned to the court later in the evening and teamed up to clinch the men’s doubles title, defeating Rohith Gobinath and Srikar Doni 6-3, 6-2. “It was a very good match. I think both of us were very exhausted after the singles in the morning. We're happy that we found some energy and it was fun playing with Nitin this week,” Sureshkumar said. “It's good to carry the winning momentum. Hopefully, we can play in some other tournaments in the future.”
Sinha will face sixth seed Maan Kesharwani in Saturday’s singles final. Kesharwani secured his place in the title clash with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over unseeded Suraj Prabodh in the other semifinal.
“The first set looked easy, but it was intense for me,” Kesharwani said after the win. “Somehow, I won it. The second set, I was a little bit tired, but I made it. At 5-all, I broke him, and then I won the match. I will try to recover well, eat well, and try to sleep well and just be ready for tomorrow.”
In the women’s singles event, two-time former champion and top seed Vaidehee Chaudhari will take on second seed Shruti Ahlawat in the final after both players registered straight-sets victories in their respective semifinals.
Chaudhari needed 69 minutes to defeat fourth seed Sonal Patil 6-3, 6-1, while Ahlawat spent 61 minutes on court to beat Soha Sadiq 6-0, 6-1.
“From the very first point, I was trying to be very focused and trying to do what I can do best,” Ahlawat said. “I've played her quite a few times now, and I was quite aware of what she was going to do and how I had to play.”
Looking ahead to the final, Ahlawat said she would approach the contest like any other match. “I'm just going to treat it as any other match. I'm going to do what I do well. I've played her twice before. I'll just play my match and see how it is.”
Lakshmi Arunkumar and Samhitha Chamarthi won the women’s doubles title with a 5-7, 6-1, 10-5 win over Aishwarya Jadhav and Aakruti Sonkusare.
The longest match of the day came in the boys’ U-18 singles draw, in which fourth seed Om Ramesh Patel battled for three hours and 16 minutes to overcome 15th seed Yashwin Dahiya 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 7-5.
Patel will face 10th seed Ribhav Saroha in Saturday’s final. Saroha defeated Srikar Doni 6-3, 6-2 in the other semifinal.
In the boys’ U-18 doubles final, top seeds Praneel Sharma and Aditya Mor clinched the title with a 6-2, 6-1 win over third seeds Raghav Sarode and Om Ramesh Patel.
Third seeds Sanmitha Harini and Savitha Bhuvaneswaran won the girls’ U-18 doubles title, defeating fourth seeds Sree Syleswari Velmanikandan and Riddhi Shinde 6-4, 7-5.
Results:
Men’s singles (semifinals):
Nitin Sinha [3] def. Manish Sureshkumar [1] 6-7(6-8), 6-3, 6-1
Maan Kesharwani [6] def. Suraj R Prabodh 6-3, 7-5
Women’s singles (semifinal):
Vaidehee Chaudhari [1] def. Sonal Patil [4] 6-3, 6-1
Shruti Ahlawat [2] def. Soha Sadiq 6-1, 6-2
Men’s doubles (final):
Manish Sureshkumar [1]/ Nitin Kumar Sinha [1] def. Rohith Gobinath / Srikar Doni 6-3, 6-2
Women’s doubles (final):
Lakshmi Arunkumar / Samhitha Chamarthi def. Aishwarya Jadhav / Aakruti Sonkusare 5-7, 6-1, 10-5
Boys' U-18 singles (semifinal):
Om Ramesh Patel [4] def. Yashwin Dahiya [15] 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 7-5
Ribhav Saroha def. Srikar Doni 6-3, 6-2
Girls' U-18 singles (semifinal):
Aahan Aahan [7] def. Harsha Oruganti 6-0, 6-2
Parthsarthi Mundhe [2] def. Riddhi Shinde 6-0, 6-3
Boys' U-18 doubles (final):
Praneel Sharma / Aditya Mor [1] def. Raghav Sarode/ Om Ramesh Patel [3] 6-2, 6-1
Girls' U-18 doubles (final):
Sanmitha Harini / Savitha Bhuvaneswaran [3] def. Sree Syleswari Velmanikandan / Riddhi Shinde [4] 6-4, 7-5