Vaishnavi, Vishnu hog limelight at Fenesta Open Nat'l Tennis C'ship

NEW DELHI: Vaishnavi Adkar tore the form book to shreds as she ousted third seed Yubrani Banerjee 6-4, 6-0 in women's singles at the quarter-final stage of the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship on Friday.

In August, Vaishnavi had shown prowess of her abilities when she won the under-18 title on clay at the National under-18 championship in Chennai.

Riding on her recent form, she grabbed her chances on the hard courts at the DLTA. The bright sunshine provided the right ambience for good tennis and the focussed girl from Pune showed she could produce the stokes even on a relatively faster surface.

If in the first set Vaishnavi took time to settle down, in the second set she was in sublime form.

"I am happy to have advanced to the semi-finals," said Vashnavi. The other results in the women's section proceeded on expected lines as the seeds stayed on course. Top seed Vaidehi Chaudhari continued with her impressive form as she outlasted Seed 5 Farhat Aleen Qamar 6-1, 6-2.

"Today's match was really good. I thought it would get close but I played really well. I am in the semi-finals for the third time. I am looking forward to my match on Saturday," said Vaidehi. Second seed Sai Samhitha got past Sandeepti Singh 6-3, 7-5 in the quarter-finals.

"I am feeling great to play the semi-finals. Today's match was really good. Sandeepti played really well. I had two match points which I couldn't convert. She gave me a good fight and it feels good to win at the Fenesta Open," said Sai Samhita. Fourth seed Akanksha Nitture outslugged young Sahira Singh 6-1, 6-3.

In the men's section, a veteran of sorts, Vishnu Vardhan turned the heat on Siddharth Vishwakarma. In a match which went down to the wire, 35-year-old Vishnu used a bagful of tricks, sliced and diced his way to the semi-finals.

To say that his win was against all odds. The experience was a big plus for Vishnu, a veteran of many battles before. Yet, to come out of the trenches, and with guns blazing was creditable against a younger opponent. The 7-6(7/4), 4-6, 7-6(8/6) efforts of labour in over three hours showed Vishnu was ready to spill his guts on the court.

"I am really happy to have made it to the semi-finals at the Fenesta Open this year. I played for three hours and in the end, I had to pull out all the tricks. I am now looking forward to the next couple of days at the tournament," said Vishnu. Chirag Duhan also had to fight hard for his quarter-final win against Nitin Sinha (7-5, 3-6, 6-1).

In the junior section (under 18), Seed 1 player, Suhitha Maruri was in great shape as she beat Hitkamya Narwal 6-1, 6-3. "I just finished my quarter-finals match and am looking forward to the semi-finals. It really feels great to come back. I am hoping to put in my best efforts tomorrow," said Suhitha.

In the boys' under-18 quarter-final, Aman Dahiya, Seed 1, rolled over Rethin Pranav 6-4, 6-1.

"Today I won my match against Rethin Pranav. I played really well and aggressive. I took my chances. I hope the semi-final will also be good," said Dahiya.