National Tennis Championship: Manish, Vaishnavi clinch singles crowns; Harshini wins U-18 title

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s Manish Sureshkumar and Maharashtra’s Vaishnavi Adkar capped off a dominant week by clinching the men’s and women’s singles titles at the 30th Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi on Saturday.

Manish outclassed compatriot Keerthivassan Suresh 6-4, 6-2 in a two-hour final, showcasing his consistency and control throughout.

Both players started with intent, trading early breaks to level at 1-1. Manish broke again to go 2-1 up and consolidated to 3-1, before Keerthivassan briefly fought back to lead 4-3. But the top seed found another gear, breaking serve once more to close the opening set and riding that momentum to a commanding finish in the second.

Vaishnavi, meanwhile, was in cruise control from the outset, breaking Akanksha Nitture early in the women’s singles final to seize the initiative. Despite a brief fightback from Akanksha, Vaishnavi’s sharp groundstrokes and clean shot-making saw her dominate 6-1, 6-2 to seal the crown in style.

In the Under-18 category, Harshini N prevailed over Snigdha Kanta 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in a gripping girls’ singles final that lasted more than three hours. Tavish Pahwa claimed the boys’ singles title after Hruthik Katakam retired hurt at 1-0 in the second set, following a tense opening tie-break that Tavish won 7-6(2).

In doubles, Nitin Kumar Sinha and Maan Kesharwani edged past Manish and Abhinav Sanjeev S 6-4, 3-6, [10-5] to lift the men’s title, while Akanksha Nitture teamed up with Soha Sadiq to down Pooja Ingale and Yubrani Banerjee 6-2, 6-2 in the women’s final.

In the U-18 doubles finals, Vraj H Gohil and Prakaash Sarran rallied to beat Karan Thapa and Channamallikarjuna Yale 2-6, 7-5, [10-5], while Savitha Bhuvaneswaran and Aahan clinched the girls’ crown with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Akansha Ghosh and Deepshika V.

The winners shared prize money from a total pool of over Rs 21.55 lakh, with junior players also receiving kit allowances. The U-16 and U-14 singles champions and runners-up will earn tennis scholarships of Rs 25,000 each, with matches in those categories scheduled from October 5 to 11.