Balaji, Sanam in summit clash
Top two seeds Sriram Balaji and Sanam Singh set up a title clash in the GMIT ITF Davangere Open tennis tournament on Friday.
Top seeded Balaji edged out Dutchman Colin Van Beem 7-6(5), 6-3 in an match that lasted two hours while the second seeded Sanam Singh scored a 6-0, 7-6 (1) win over Germany’s Torsten Wietsoka in just over an hour. It will be an all Indian affair in the final on Saturday.
The two traded breaks in the fifth and sixth games of the first set, with Balaji breaking in the fifth and Beem the sixth. The set went into tie-breaker and a steady Balaji won it 7-5. In the second set, Balaji was on a roll and he broke Van Beem in the fifth and ninth games. In the doubles final, second seeded Indian pair of Jeevan Nedunchezian and Sriram Balaji upset the top seeds and compatriots Arunprakash Rajagopalan and Vijaysundar Prashanth 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-1.
Results: Semifinals: 1-Sriram Balaji (Ind) bt Colin Van Beem (Netherlands) 7-6(5), 6-3; 2-Sanam Singh (Ind) bt Torsten Wietsoka (Germany) 6-0, 7-6 (1).
Doubles (final): 2-Jeevan Nedunchezian/ Sriram Balaji (Ind) bt 1-Arunprakash Rajagopalan/ Vijaysundar Prashanth (Ind) 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-1.
