Vishnu Vardhan did his confidence a world of good as he fought his way past sixth-seeded V.M. Ranjeet in the first round of the $10,000 ITF men’s Futures tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old Hyderabad lad was quite shaky against former National champion Ranjeet, who had beaten him in Nigeria last month. Not sharp with his serves and quite tentative with his strokes, Vishnu, ranked 719 and a far cry from his career-best 262 last year, stepped up his game after clinching the tie-break in the first set. He quickly raced to a 4-1 lead in the second.
Ranjeet played quite well, but was unable to maintain the required level of consistency.
Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan was quite fluent as he tamed P.C. Vignesh. Even though both competed hard, it was a friendly meeting as Jeevan could afford some light-hearted exchanges, particularly after a tough rally in which his opponent had the final say.
Top-seeded Yuki Bhambri was a class act as he warmed up for tougher challenges ahead with a smooth win over Shonigmatjon Shofayziyev of Uzbekistan. .
The results (first round): Yuki Bhambri bt Shonigmatjon Shofayziyev (Uzb) 6-1, 6-4; Arjun Kadhe bt Garvit Batra 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3); Kaza Vinayak Sharma bt Dineshkanthan Thangarajah (Sri) 6-2, 6-3; Akash Wagh bt Timon Reichelt (Ger) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3); Luca Margaroli (Sui) bt Ronak Manuja 6-0, 6-4; Torsten Wietoska (Ger) bt Warit Sornbutnark (Tha) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; Daniiar Duldaev (Kgz) bt Jannis Liniger (Sui) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2; Jui-Chen Hung (Tpe) bt AshwinVijayragavan 6-2, 6-2; Vishnu Vardhan bt V.M. Ranjeet 7-6(4), 6-3; Shaikh Abdullah bt Jatin Dahiya 7-6(3), 6-4; Vijay Sundar Prashanth bt Lakshit Sood 7-5, 7-6(3); Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan bt P.C. Vignesh 6-2, 6-2.
