New Delhi, Oct 8 (IANS) Defending champion and top seed Manish Sureshkumar battled past Parth Aggarwal in a three-set thriller, while third seed Nitin Sinha also advanced to the semi-finals at the 31st Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship here on Thursday.
Sureshkumar, who was stretched physically during the contest, recovered from a 3-0 deficit in the deciding set to beat Aggarwal 6-1, 5-7, and 7-5 after nearly three hours of action.
“I think I started feeling a little weak physically. There was no energy in my 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,” Sureshkumar said.
“I just tried to stay there because the match can turn at any point in time. He might get nervous, or something like that could happen. I was just trying not to give up and trying my best, and I’m glad that it worked in the end,” he added.
Sureshkumar will face his doubles partner Sinha in the last four after the third seed defeated eighth seed Rohan Mehra 7-6 (7-5) in two hours and 22 minutes.
“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.
Sureshkumar and Sinha later combined to reach the men’s doubles final, defeating fourth seeds Jagmeet Singh and Parth Aggarwal 6-1, 6-4. The top-seeded pair will take on Srikar Doni and Rohith Gobinath in Friday’s final.
Suraj R Prabodh, who had earlier knocked out second seed Aditya Balsekar, continued his impressive run with a 6-3, 6-4 win over R Jaisinghani. He will face sixth seed Maan Kesharwani, who defeated Pranav Karthik 6-2, 6-4.
In the women’s singles, top seed and two-time champion Vaidehee Chaudhari overcame a second-set setback to beat fifth seed Aditi Rawat 6-0, 1-6, 6-2 and book her semi-final spot.
“In the second set, she played really well. 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, let’s hang in there and just focus on one point,” Chaudhari said.
Chaudhari will meet fourth seed Sonal Patil, who edged past Laxmi Siri Dandu 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.
Second seed Shruti Ahlawat defeated eighth seed Sohini Mohanty 6-4, 6-4 to set up a semi-final against unseeded Soha Sadiq. Sadiq advanced after third seed Akanksha Nitture retired while trailing 0-3 in the opening set due to an upper-limb spasm.
In the junior events, seventh seed Aahan Aahan stunned top seed Savitha Bhuvaneswaran 6-4, 6-2 in the girls’ U-18 singles quarter-finals. Second seed Parthsarthi Mundhe and Harsha Oruganti also reached the last four, while Riddhi Shinde ousted third seed Shreeniti Chowdhury 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 6-2.
In the boys’ U-18 singles, fourth seed Om Ramesh Patel, 15th seed Yashwin Dahiya, unseeded Srikar Doni and Ribhav Saroha advanced to the semi-finals.
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 are in the boys’ final, while fourth seeds Sree Syleswari Velmanikandan and Riddhi Shinde will take on third seeds Sanmitha Harini and Savitha Bhuvaneswaran in the girls’ final.
Results:
Men’s singles quarterfinals:
Manish Sureshkumar [1] def. Parth Aggarwal 6-1, 5-7, 7-5
Nitin Sinha [3] def. Rohan Mehra [8] 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
Maan Kesharwani [6] def. Pranav Karthik 6-2, 6-4
Suraj R Prabodh def. R Jaisinghani 6-3, 6-4
Women’s singles quarterfinals:
Vaidehee Chaudhari [1] def. Aditi Rawat [5]: 6-0, 1-6, 6-2
Shruti Ahlawat [2] def. Sohini Mohanty [8] 6-4, 6-4
Soha Sadiq def. Akanksha Nitture [3] 3-0 retired.
Sonal Patil [4] def. Laxmi Siri Dandu 7-6 (8-6), 6-4
Men’s doubles semifinals:
Manish Sureshkumar [1]/ Nitin Kumar Sinha [1] def. Jagmeet Singh [4] / Parth Aggarwal [4] 6-1, 6-4
Rohith Gobinath / Srikar Doni def. Aditya Balsekar [3] / Pranav Karthik [3] 6-3, 2-6, 10-6
Women’s doubles semifinals:
Aishwarya Jadhav / Aakruti Sonkusare def. Arzan Khorakiwala/Akansha Ghosh 6=2, 7-5
Lakshmi Arunkumar / Samhitha Chamarthi vs Sonal Patil [3] / Pooja Ingale [3]
Boys U-18 singles quarterfinals:
Om Ramesh Patel [4] def. Aditya Mor 6-4, 6-2
Srikar Doni def. Raghav Sarode [12] 6-2, 6-2
Yashwin Dahiya [15] def. Veer Jiten Madam 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
Ribhav Saroha def. N Badrinarayanan 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
Girls U-18 singles quarterfinals:
Aahan Aahan [7] def. S Bhuvaneswaran [1] 6-4, 6-2
Parthsarthi Mundhe [2] def. Iha Joshi 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
Riddhi Shinde def. Shreeniti Chowdhury [3] 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 6-2
Harsha Oruganti def. Anjhalle Meka 6-1, 6-1
Boys U-18 doubles semifinals:
Praneel Sharma / Aditya Mor [1] def. Veer Jiten Madam/Ribhav Saroha 6-2, 0-6, 10-5
Raghav Sarode/Om Ramesh Patel [3] def. Prateek Sheoran/Kushagra Arora 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 10-8
Girls U-18 doubles semifinals:
Sree Syleswari Velmanikandan / Riddhi Shinde [4] def. Ranjhana Sangram / Sarena Gahlot 6-1, 6-2
Sanmitha Harini / S Bhuvaneswaran [3] def. Shibani Gupte / Tanusshri Sathesh [2] 6-3, 6-1
–IANS
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