Vishnu regains title; Natasha is champion
The Hindu
REASON TO SMILE: Natasha Palha and Vishnu Vardhan with their trophies. Photo: Sushanta Patronobish
Third-seeded Vishnu Vardhan of Tamil Nadu regained the
men’s singles crown, downing second-seeded Statemate J. Mohit Mayur in
the final of the National grasscourt tennis at South Club on Saturday.
Natasha
Palha of Goa became the new women’s champion, blowing away six-time
winner Rushmi Chakravarthy of Tamil Nadu in straight sets.
Vishnu,
who served 18 aces, showed great maturity and amazing control during
his two-hour serve-and-volley game. Vishnu’s best came in the eighth
game of the second set when he fired four successive aces.
“I have never seen any one serving four successive aces to win a game in South Club,” said Akhtar Ali, former Davis Cupper.
Mohit
had problems with his serve. Vishnu broke him in the third game to take
a 2-1 lead and held his own service games to win the first set 6-4.
Vishnu
continued to dominate in the second set, serving 12 aces to retain the
edge over Mohit. But the Tamil Nadu lad raised his game and took the set
to tiebreaker. Vishnu, once again, served well to claim the set 7-4.
“This
was my second appearance and I won the title on both occasions. This
win feels even better as I could lift the crown without my service being
broken in the tournament,” said Vishnu.
Natasha
Palha, who had lost the final against Ankita Raina in the previous
edition, did not miss the opportunity this time as she downed Rushmi
Chakravarthi in straight sets.
“The win feels nice as
this was my first National title at any level. I made too many errors
last year (against Ankita) and I did not want to waste the opportunity
this time,” Natasha said after her win.
Natasha
could not complete a double crown as she and Nidhi Chilumula of Andhra
Pradesh lost the doubles final against Rushmi and Bhuvana Kalva (Andhra
Pradesh).
The results (finals): Men: Vishnu Vardhan (TN) bt J. Mohit Mayur (TN)) 6-4, 7-6(4). Doubles: Ronak Manuja (Mah) & Ashwin Vijayragavan (AP) bt N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth & Mohammad Fariz (TN) 7-6(2), 6-4.
Women: Natash Palha (Goa) bt Rushmi Chakravarthi (TN) 6-1, 6-1. Doubles: Rushmi & Bhuvana Kalva (AP) bt Natasha & Nidhi Chilumula (AP) 6-2, 7-6(4).
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