Nitin Kumar Sinha played fluently to oust former champion Vishnu Vardhan 6-4, 6-1 in the first round of the Fenesta National tennis championship at the DLTA Complex on Tuesday.
It was a superb exhibition of athleticism and intense strokeplay by Nitin, a winner of the Asian junior championship in 2017.
Olympian Vishnu, who has been focusing on doubles in the professional circuit, looked solid till he missed three game points and dropped serve in the ninth game of the first set. Nitin served out the set in style with an ace.
In the second, Nitin took a 2-0 lead before Vishnu reduced the margin. The former raced away with the next four games.
In a battle between former champions, Dalwinder Singh prevailed 7-6(4), 6-3 against V.M. Ranjeet. The former put his power game on display even though the latter teased him with his court-craft and judicious play.
Top seed Niki Poonacha was involved in a high-quality contest against qualifier Sai Karteek Ganta before winning 7-5, 6-4 while Vijayant Malik tamed Yugal Bansal in the second set tie-break.
Qualifier Chandril Sood extended his stay, beating Dhruv Sunish who was rushed to hospital after suffering a bout of cramps.
In the women’s event, four-time champion Prerna Bhambri cruised past Sudipta Senthilkumar.
Madhwin’s houdini act
In the under-18 boys’ event, Madhwin Kamath survived six match points to turn the tables on Drona Walia 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(3) in a second-round marathon that lasted four hours and five minutes. Rohan Mehra outplayed top seed and National junior champion Dev Javia for the loss of four games.
The results (first round):
Men: Niki Poonacha bt Sai Karteek Ganta 7-5, 6-4; S.D. Prajwal Dev bt Kavin Masilamani 6-1, 6-4; Vijayant Malik bt Yugal Bansal 6-0, 7-6(2); Dalwinder Singh bt V.M. Ranjeet 7-6(4), 6-3; Nitin Kumar Sinha bt Vishnu Vardhan 6-4, 6-1; Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam bt Ansu Bhuyan 6-4, 6-4; Chandril Sood bt Dhruv Sunish 7-6(4), 6-4; Anvit Bendre bt Yash Yadav 6-1, 6-3.
Women: Sowjanya Bavisetti bt Anusha Kondaveeti 6-2, 6-1; Lakshmi Sahitha Vutukuru bt Likhitha Kalava 4-6, 7-5, 6-3; Akanksha Nitture bt Harshita Chugh 6-1, 6-2; Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi bt Rishika Sunkara 6-1, 6-1; Arthi Muniyan bt Ramya Natarajan 7-5, 6-3; Prerna Bhambri bt Sudipta Senthilkumar 6-2, 6-3; Vanshita Pathania bt Kashish Bhatia 6-2, 6-4; Bhuvana Kalva bt Sara Yadav 6-2, 7-5 .
