VISHWAKARMA KNOCKS OUT 2ND SEED MANISH IN NATIONAL TENNIS

NEW DELHI: Siddharth Vishwakarma played fearlessly to knock out second seed Manish Suresh Kumar 6-4, 7-6 (4) and stormed into the semi-finals of men’s singles at the Fenesta Open National tennis championships at the DLTA courts here on Thursday.

The 23-year old served solid and showed guts against a quality opponent who was one of the favourites in the tournament. The Uttar Pradesh boy played well on crucial points to close out the contest. There was no such scare for top seed Arjun Kadhe though as he sailed through comfortably to the last four with a 6-0, 6-3 win against Ishaque Eqbal.

Third seed Siddharth Rawat ended the brave run of former champion VM Ranjeet 7-5, 6-0 and faces a tough opponent in Khade next. Siddhanth Banthia also bowed out losing 6-2, 6-2 to fifth-seed Nitin K Sinha. Sinha will face Vishwakarma in the semi-finals. Banthia, however, kept his hopes alive in under-18 boys semi-final with 6-3, 6-0 victory over Krish Patel.

In women’s singles, Natasha Palha used all her experience to tame Ramya Natrajan 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (2) in a marathon encounter.

Four-time champion Prerna Bhambri blew hot and cold to overcome the challenge of youngster Humera Shaik. Prerna will now face defending champion and second seed Mahak Jain who got the better of C Sravya Shivani 6-2,6-4,

Top seed Zeel Desai faced a tricky opponent in Sathwika Sama but got crucial breaks in both sets to seal 6-3, 6-3 victory to reach the semi-finals.

THE 23YEAR OLD SERVED SOLID AND SHOWED GUTS AGAINST A QUALITY OPPONENT WHO WAS ONE OF THE FAVOURITES IN THE TOURNAMENT. THE UP BOY PLAYED WELL ON CRUCIAL POINTS TO CLOSE OUT THE CONTEST.