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U-14 tennis: Anmol Nagpure outshines Ananmay Upadhyay
Both players used a lot of forehand shots, taking inspiration from Roger Federer.
Pune: The under-14 players competing at the MSLTA-Yonex Sunrise All India Ranking Talent Series (7) under-14 tennis tournament at Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Balewadi mostly take inspiration from Roger Federer. They love to watch the Swiss tennis great’s forehand shots.
On Thursday, the semi-final between Anmol Nagpure and Ananmay Upadhyay turned out to be battle of forehands with top seeded Nagpure winning 6-2, 6-2 in an hour and 10 minutes at the tournament played at Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Balewadi.
Both the players’ strong point was forehand and it was played at every next shot during the match.
“Federer’s forehand” – these two words brought twinkle in Nagpure’s eyes as he said, “I like the way the legend hits the forehand shots. I also try to hit a few times and manages to execute it well sometimes.”
Nagpure started to learn tennis in Nagpur before his family shifted to Pune three years back. Since then, he is training under Hemant Bendrey at PYC Hindu Gymkhana.
“Hemant sir tells me to improve the speed of my shots. Earlier, I used to hit it very slow. I have improved as compared to previous year. I am working on serving the ball more efficiently,” said Nagpure, who has a 4-0 record over Upadhyay.
“He hardly hit any shot where I need to use by backhand or drop shot. So, forehand shots were played most during the match,” said Nagpure.
For Upadhyay, the match started on a good note as he broke the opponent in the first serve, but in following the game Nagpure did the same and managed to break each other twice in the first four games.
“I was unable to execute the shots that I had planned on the courts,” said Upadhyay, who trains under Anvit Bendre at Pashan.
Upadhyay’s game dropped after the fifth game and he kept making errors. On a few occasions, the game went into deuce, but he was unable to finish the match.
Nagpure will face second seeded Eshan Degamwar, whom he has defeated twice in the past, in the final.
Anmol Nagpure said, “So far, all the matches were easy for me. I will like to maintain the momentum in the final.”
Ananmay Upadhyay said, “I need to execute my plans properly on courts and bring variety to my game.”
Shaikh, Degamwar in line for double crown
Alina Shaikh and Eshan Degamwar placed themselves in line for double after winning their respective semi-finals. Sixth seeded Alina upset top seeded Aditi Gudulkar 6-1, 6-1 and will take on third seeded Siya Prasade who won 6-4, 6-0 against eighth seeded Prisha Shinde.
Alina also made it to the doubles finals with Aditi Lakhe scraped past the pair of Sofia Dsouza and Aditi Roy 6-2, 6-1. In the finals they will take on fourth seeded Simran Chetri and Saloni Parida who upset top seeded Aditi Gudulkar and Anvesa Das 6-4, 6-1. Second seeded Eshan Degamwar scored a 6-2, 6-4 win over fourth seeded Aryan Hood.
In the boys doubles event semi-finals, Eshan teamed up with local lad Aryan Hood to score a 6-3, 6-2 win over Sudhanshu Sawant and Ananmay Upadhyay.
Second semi-final was walkover win for Jay Pawar and Prathmesh Patil as opponents Soumil Pradyuma and Chopade Tomar did not make it to the courts.
Results: (Semi-finals)
Boys
1-Anmol Nagpure bt Ananmay Upadhyay 6-2, 6-2; 2-Eshan Degamwar bt 4-Aryan Hood 6-2, 6-4.
Doubles: 2-Aryan Hood and Eshan Degamwar bt Sudhanshu Sawant and Ananmay Upadhyay 6-3, 6-2; Jay Pawar and Prathmesh Patil Walk over against Soumil Pradyuma and Chopade Tomar
Girls:
6-Alina Shaikh bt 1-Aditi Gudulkar 6-1, 6-1; 3-Siya Prasade bt 8-Prisha Shinde 6-4, 6-0.
Doubles: Simran Chetri and 4-Saloni Parida bt Aditi Gudulkar and 1-Anvesa Das 6-4, 6-1; 2-Alina Shaikh and Aditi Lakhe bt Sofia Dsouza and 3-Aditi Roy 6-2, 6-1.
