Top-seeded Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan began his Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship campaign with an easy victory on Monday.
The 23-year-old needed only 68 minutes to demolish statemate Vijay Kannan 6-2, 6-2 at the DLTA complex.
Ranked 395 in the world, Jeevan has an ITF singles title under his belt this season. Second-seeded Virali Muru-gesan had an easier time on the first day when his opponent Raja Maheswari retired after losing the first set 0-6.
In the women's section, third-seeded Natasha Palha didn't take much time to get rid of Bengal's Amrita Mukherjee. Palha won 6-1, 6-3 to set up a second round meeting with qualifier Damini Sharma, who got the better of Manya Nagpal 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
Fourth-seeded Shweta Rana, fifth-seeded Eettee Mehta, Srivaishnavi Peddireddy (seeded sixth) and Vaniya Dangwal (eighth) didn't face much trouble and made their way to the next round with easy straight-sets wins.
With Yuki Bhambri and Rutuja Bhosale, the men's and women's defending champions giving the event a miss, it will give other players an opportunity to showcase their talent.
With Yuki and other Davis Cuppers Sanam Singh and Vishnu Vardhan taking part in the Tashkent Challenger, the organisers plan to schedule the nationals in a way that dates don't clash with the ATP Challenger tournaments next year.
{{/usCountry}}With Yuki and other Davis Cuppers Sanam Singh and Vishnu Vardhan taking part in the Tashkent Challenger, the organisers plan to schedule the nationals in a way that dates don't clash with the ATP Challenger tournaments next year.
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