Unseeded Sidharth Rawat continued his dream run at the Fenesta National tennis championship, packing off top-seed Karunuday Singh in the semifinals at the DLTA Complex here on Friday. Rawat won 6-4, 6-1, a day after having dispatched defending champion Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash in similar fashion.
His previous best performance in the tournament had been a semifinal finish in 2012.
Rawat was in control all through and easily fended off anything Karunuday threw at him.
Karunuday, who was far from his best throughout the tournament, committed several errors, both forced and unforced. Karunuday managed to lift his game occasionally but Rawat was hardly bothered.
Rawat broke Karunuday in the seventh game of the first set, then held to win 6-4. In the second, he raced to a 4-0 lead before Karunuday sought medical attention. However, he continued to falter against a fitter, faster opponent. He managed to hold his serve immediately after and saved three match points in the seventh before finally hitting the ball into the net.
Rawat will be up against second seed Vishnu Vardhan for the title. The big-serving Vishnu Vardhan edged past a fighting Ronit Bisht 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4. Though Bisht kept up the pressure, he was unable to counter Vishnu Vardhan’s power.
Sri Vaishnavi retires
Among the women, a tough three-setter on Thursday took its toll on Sri Vaishnavi Peddi Reddy who retired in her semifinal against Karman Kaur Thandi trailing 3-0 in the third set. Vaishnavi had been struggling with a stiff right shoulder and was unable to continue despite medical assistance.
Delhi girl Karman, the only player to figure in the title clash of all three events she entered, will be hoping to continue her winning form.
Karman won the women’s doubles with Sai Samhitha, against Riya Bhatia and Sharon Paul for her first title, 4-6, 7-6(3) 10-8. She will next play defending champion Prerna Bhambri in the women’s singles final on Friday and Simran Kaur Sethi in the girls’ title clash.
Prerna beat Shweta Rana 6-3, 6-2 in the other semifinal, a repeat of last year’s final. Prerna broke Shweta in the second and sixth games of the first set. In the second, Shweta appeared to be putting up a better fight but a close call in the sixth game affected her. She was broken immediately after and was never in the game after that, hitting the ball into the net to hand Prerna the match.
The results:
Men’s singles (semifinals): Sidharth Rawat bt Karunuday Singh 6-4, 6-1; Vishnu Vardhan bt Ronit Bisht 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4. Doubles (final): P.C. Vignesh & Kaza V. Sharma bt Nitten Kirrtane & Saurav Sukul 6-3, 6-2.
Women’s singles (semifinals): Karman Kaur Thandi bt Vaishnavi Peddireddy 4-6, 6-1, 3-0 retd.; Prerna Bhambri bt Shweta Rana 6-3, 6-2. Doubles (final): Karman Kaur Thandi & Sai Samhitha bt Riya Bhatia & Sharon Paul 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-8.
Under-18 boys’ singles (semifinals): Vidit Vaghela bt B.R. Nikshep 7-6(4), 7-5; Dalwinder Singh bt Aryan Goveas 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4). Doubles (final): Vashisht Vinod Cheruku & Prajwal Dev bt Param Pun & Paramveer Bajwa 1-6, 6-4, 10-7.
Under-18 girls’ singles (semifinals): Karman Kaur Thandi bt Abinikka Renganathan 7-5, 6-4; Simran Kaur Sethi bt Mahak Jain 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4). Doubles (final): Zeel Desai & Snehal Mane bt Mahak Jain & Shivani Ingle 6-3, 6-3.
