Manish Sureshkumar, Nitin Sinha set up semi-final clash; partner to reach doubles final at Fenesta Open

Top seeds Manish Sureshkumar and Vaidehee Chaudhari were both stretched to three sets at the 31st Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship on Thursday before prevailing to reach the semi-finals.

Top seeds Manish Sureshkumar and Vaidehee Chaudhari were both stretched to three sets at the 31st Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship on Thursday before prevailing to reach the semi-finals. Men’s top seed and defending champion Sureshkumar battled back from 3-0 down in the final set and needed close to three hours to defeat Parth Aggarwal 6-1, 5-7, 7-5, as per a release.

“I think I started feeling a little weak physically,” Sureshkumar said after the win. “There was no energy in the legs. I was somehow trying to push myself and try to do my best. I thought the second set would be very crucial to finish it off in straight sets. I was also down in the third set, but I'm glad that I was able to find a way and get through. I just tried to stay there because the match can turn at any point of time. He might get nervous, or something like that could happen. I was just trying to not give up and trying my best, and I'm glad that it worked in the end.” He will next face third seed and doubles partner Nitin Sinha, who battled past No. 8 seed Rohan Mehra 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 in 2 hours, 22 minutes, to book his place in the semi-finals.

“I think it was a good match and a lot of ups and downs in both sets. I just tried to focus on every single point and try to focus more on my service points and see how it goes,” Sinha said. The pair also teamed up to reach the doubles final later in the day with a straight-sets win over Jagmeet Singh/ Parth Aggarwal. The doubles top seeds will face Srikar Doni/ Rohith Gobinath in the final tomorrow.

Suraj Prabodh, who knocked out second seed Aditya Balsekar earlier in the week, continued his dream run at the tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 win to reach the last four. He will face No. 6 seed Maan Kesharwani in the semi-finals. Women’s top seed Vaidehee Chaudhari, a two-time winner at the Fenesta Open, overcame a second-set wobble to defeat No. 5 seed Aditi Rawat 6-0, 1-6, 6-2 and advance to the last four. She will next face No. 4 seed Sonal Patil, who defeated Laxmi Siri Dandu 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

“In the second set, she played really well,” Chaudhari said after the match. “I played badly, but she played really well. And in the third set, I was 1-2 down, but I hung in there, and I won five straight games. I was just thinking that let's hang in there and just focus on one point.” The second women’s semi-final will pit No. 2 seed Shruti Ahlawat against unseeded Soha Sadiq. Ahlawat defeated No. 8 seed Sohini Mohanty 6-4, 6-4, while Sadiq advanced to the semi-finals when third seed Akanksha Nitture retired while trailing 3-0 in the first set due to an upper-limb spasm.

The Girls U-18 singles event saw a major upset as seventh seed Aahan Aahan defeated top seed Savitha Bhuvaneswaran 6-4, 6-2 to reach the last four. Third seed Shreeniti Chowdhury was also knocked out by Riddhi Shinde, who prevailed 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 6-2. Second seed Parthsarthi Mundhe and Harsha Oruganti also won their respective matches to reach the semi-finals.In the Boys U-18 singles event, fourth seed Om Ramesh Patel and 15th seed Yashwin Dahiya were the highest seeds to reach the last four. They were joined by unseeded Srikar Doni and Ribhav Saroha.

The U-18 doubles finals are also set. Top seeds Praneel Sharma and Aditya Mor will face third seeds Raghav Sarode and Om Ramesh Patel in the Boys U-18 doubles final, while Sree Syleswari Velmanikandan and Riddhi Shinde will take on Sanmitha Harini and Savitha Bhuvaneswaran in the Girls U-18 doubles final. (ANI)