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Vishwakarma, Mahak win national tennis titles
Serving with power and hitting ferocious strokes, Siddharth won 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-3 to grab his maiden national title.
Siddharth Vishwakarma stunned top seed Arjun Kadhe to clinch the men’s singles at the Fenesta Open national tennis championships here on Saturday.
Serving with power and hitting ferocious strokes, Siddharth won 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-3 to grab his maiden national title.
In the women’s final, Mahak Jain was too good for Natasha Palha. The 17-year-old raced to a 6-1, 6-2 victory, claiming her second successive national title. Mahak showed the most consistent game all week, chasing every ball and hitting deep to create openings. Playing in junior Grand Slams has raised the confidence of the Indore teenager.
In the boys’ under-18 final, Siddhanth Banthia lived up to the promise, beating Calvin Golmei 7-6, 6-2. The girls’ under-18 title was won by Humera Shaik, who beat Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty 6-2, 6-4.
The men’s final was entertaining. It hardly mattered that Varanasi boy Vishwakarma is ranked 1221 on the ATP charts, way below Kadhe’s 358.
Kadhe, the sixth best Indian in men’s singles, has built a reputation after playing in the US collegiate circuit and was also called into India’s Davis Cup squad against Serbia.
Vishwakarma, however, didn’t show any nerves. He broke Kadhe’s serve straight away and ran up a 4-1 lead. The tall left-hander gives the ball a rip with heavy top spin, a weapon his opponents have found difficult to pick.
Kadhe, after losing the first set tamely, regrouped. He stroked with precision to push Vishwakarma on the backfoot. The Pune boy got the break but dropped serve in the fifth game before clinching the tie-breaker.
But Vishwakarma took control in the decider, pounding winners off both flanks to get an early break. Kadhe failed to convert a break point in the ninth game before Vishwakarma signed off with an ace.
“I was getting cramp in the second set, so I conserved myself to give it all in the third. It is my first national title and it is a great feeling,” said Vishwakarma, who was the 2016 runner-up.
Mahak raced to Modern School, Barakambha, to play her school games match and was back in time to collect her trophy.
Former hockey captain Sardar Singh gave away the prizes. The winners pocketed ₹3 lakh each and the runners up ₹2 lakh each.
