Vishnu beats Gajjar, takes title

The Hindu  27-11-2011                           - THE SCHOOL OF POWER TENNIS

 

MEMORABLE WIN: Despite a niggling pain in the groin, Vishnu Vardhan slugged it out to win a hard-fought final. 

 

Vishnu Vardhan fought hard for three hours in recording a memorable 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Rohan Gajjar in the final of the Power Grid $15,000 ITF Futures tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Saturday.

Despite a niggling pain in the groin that forced him to take a medical time-out after the second set, the second-seeded Vishnu slugged it out, saving four breakpoints in the crucial seventh game of the decider.

Gajjar had also given a good account of himself, turning what looked like a one-sided match on its head with a break in the seventh game of the second set, holding on to the advantage by saving three breakpoints in the next game and eventually serving out the set at love.

Gajjar falters

However, at the crunch, Gajjar faltered as he buried a backhand into the net to face match point. Vishnu came up with a smart passing shot and jumped in joy.

After the loss in the final last week in Pune to Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, the title obviously tasted a lot sweet for the 24-year-old Vishnu who has been training diligently to improve his all-round game. It showed, as Vishnu served solid through the match, firing as many as 16 aces in the three-hour duel, when he saved 10 of 11 breakpoints.

Gajjar played so well that he faced a breakpoint only once in the first and third sets. However, he got broken both the times, in the decisive 10th games of the two sets. Thus, he slipped to his fourth defeat in five meetings with Vishnu, and the second time in a final.

It was the fourth singles title in 12 finals for Vishnu and he was grateful to the trainers — Anand Dubey and Abhimanyu — who had helped him to be at his best and clinch a double crown.

“I didn't play the final as well as I had in earlier matches the whole week, but I was happy with the way I competed,” said Vishnu, who will rest for a few days before getting ready for the annual Petroleum Sports tennis event in Dehra Dun.

Sweet revenge for Saketh

The Hindu, NEW DELHI, November 23, 2011                      The School Of Power Tennis

 Saketh Myneni let slip six match points, but did not allow Karan Rastogi slip from his grasp, as he recorded a 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 victory over the third seed in the first round of the $15,000 ITF men's Futures tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Tuesday.

In a battle of wits that lasted two hours and 29 minutes, Saketh rode on his big serves — he had 18 aces — and powerful groundstrokes before winding up the show with a teasing drop on his seventh match point.

The 24-year-old Saketh, a graduate from the University of Alabama and a trainee of coach C.V. Nagaraj from the same school of ‘Power Tennis' as Vishnu Vardhan, lost two tie-breaks after winning the first set against Rastogi at Pune last week.

Erratic

Playing on his third wild card in as many weeks of professional tennis, Saketh failed to capitalise on a 4-2 lead in the first set, owing to an erratic spell. However, the wiry Hyderabad lad forced the match into a decider with a break in the 10th game of the second set.

Saketh then broke Rastogi in the 12th game of the third set to seal the contest and exact revenge for his Pune loss.

Rastogi played solid tennis but was forced to push himself by the strapping lad across the net.

In the pre-quarterfinals, Saketh, who won the Chennai leg, will be up against the champion of last week, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan. Trying to cope with the slow courts here after relishing the quick surface at Pune, Jeevan took time to settle down against the talented Mohit Mayur, losing the first set with a double fault on set point.

However, Jeevan tightened his game to race away with the next two sets for the loss of just two games. 

Vishnu Vardhan through

 

While Vishnu Vardhan tamed Alexander Satschko of Germany, firing a dozen aces and returning with aplomb, Karunuday Singh pulled out with an injury. Thus, it will be Croat Mate Pavic who will challenge the fifth-seeded Vijayant Malik in the second round.

Coaching Was My First Love: CV Nagaraj

When he took up tennis he bristled with passion. But then his desire to settle down as a top notch coach overshadow. His intent of becoming a big player. He had acquired immense knowledge of the sport and always wanted to impart all this and groom champion players . He has to some extent achieved this, training latest Davis cupper from the cityJ. Vishnu Vardhan. “He is a special coach. Warm blessed with excellent knowledge of the game. If I’ m a good player, it is because of him,” said Vishnu vardhan, who made his Davis cup debut against Japan last month.

Vardhan grew and developed his skills under CV Nagaraj .The affable Nagaraj is one of the unsung Indian coaches. His other list of players include Susheel Narla(Davis cupper in 1997), Vishal punna(2004) and national championsSuresh Krishna ,pc vignesh and junior national champions Anant sitaram ,Chetan pandit ,KH Praveen and a host of Other players, including Geeta Manohar.

Nagaraj turned coach at the age of 21. He did not enjoy his role as a player and wanted to become a coach.

“Coaching was my first love rather than playing .I had the fascination of becoming a coach at a young age. Many were Surprised with my decision,” says Nagaraj, who hails from a family of sportspersons.

His mother Rajeswari was a tennis player while father CD Venkat Rao represented Osmania University in cricket.“sports is in my blood and I took tennis because my mother was a tennis player ,” said Nagaraj. “I pursue my post-Graduation in physical education from Annamalai University, specializing in lawn tennis, after obtaining a certificate from National Institute of sports ,”he said.

His love for tennis was too deep that he resigned his job at HAL (Hindustan Aeronautical Limited) as it was keeping Him from being on the court all day. With an urge to groom many players on par with international standards, Nagaraj Struggled to get good courts before he established the power school of Tennis at RRC in Secunderabad in 1997. I knewThat to produce quality players one needs to have good facilities,” said Nagaraj, who has been successful in producing Many international and national levels players.

“I always feel that foundation is important, The basics are crucial to the development of a player. I believe that a playerMust have the ability to play on all surfaces and accordingly the training programme is scheduled for them,” he said.“He is very special kind of coach. He brings the best of the boys . He is very good at fundamentals and spots the talentVery well ,” said the lanky Myneni Saketh, who lost to Yuki Bhambri in the Delhi Nationals on Friday.

According to Suresh Krishna , who won the nationals last year, “Nagaraj’s dedication is admirable . He is avery

Disciplined coach . There is a lot of commitment in his approach. That is the secret of his success,” said Krishna

In fact, when Vishnu Vardhan joined Nagaraj’s camp, he was an heavyweight before rigorous training turned him

Into a notable player in the country.