Vasisht Cheruku survived a matchpoint to beat defending champion B.R. Nikshep 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the under-16 boys’ final of the Fenesta National sub-junior tennis championship at the DLTA Complex here on Saturday.
Nikshep played an all-round game with considerable composure despite a painful elbow that hampered his serve.
But, once the free-stroking Vasisht, quite intense in his approach, gained a grip on the match, he hung on to cause the coup in a spectacular climax.
ADVERTISEMENT
Trained by Davis Cupper Prahlad Srinath, and hitting a strong forehand, Vasisht saved a matchpoint in the ninth game of the decider in which he had trailed 2-4.
Till then Nikshep had rarely put a foot wrong, but at the crunch he misfired.
“I am happy with the win, but not happy with my game. I need to work on my backhand among other things,” said Vasisht, who was richly rewarded for his willingness to sustain the fight till the end, without losing hope against a quality player.
ADVERTISEMENT
All the other three finals did not add up to much of a challenge for the eventual champions — Zeel Desai, Digvijay Pratap Singh and Sathwika Sama.
In the girls’ under-16 final, the national under-18 champion Zeel, who trains with coach Jignesh Rawal in Ahmedabad, did not give much scope for the talented left-hander Ramya Natarajan, who trains at the Krishnan Tennis Centre in Chennai.
“I am confident about my game. Maybe, I need to control my mind better,” said Ramya, who had lost both the under-16 and under-14 finals last year.
She failed to serve out the first set at 5-4 and did not win another game in the match.
It was almost a similar story in the boys’ under-14 section. The tall and strongly-built Digvijay Pratap Singh, a trainee of the rural scheme from Chandigarh, dropped serve twice in the first three games to British under-14 champion Siddhant Banthia, but reeled off the next 12 games to sweep the match in just over an hour.
Strong defenceThe gutsy Sathwika Sama’s strong defence, as she continued to intimidate her opponents by running down every ball, clinched her the girls’ under-14 title. She beat Sabhyata Nihalani 6-2, 6-2.
Trained by Vasudeva Reddy in Hyderabad, Sathwika took off from 2-2 in the first set, and captured nine of the next 10 games to outplay Sabhyata.
The results (finals): Boys: Under-16: Vasisht Cheruku bt B.R. Nikshep 2-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Under-14: Digvijay Pratap Singh bt Siddhant Banthia 6-3, 6-0.
Girls: Under-16: Zeel Desai bt Ramya Natarajan 7-5, 6-0.
Under-14: Sathwika Sama bt Sabhyata Nihalani 6-2, 6-2.