Men’s top seed Rakesh Myneni and women’s third seed Rushmi Chakravarthi were crowned champions at the Indian Jute National grasscourt tennis championship here on Saturday.

Myneni won in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 against second seed and defending champion Suresh Krishna.

Rushmi overcame a tough challenge from 16-year-old fourth seed Vaishnavi Peddi Reddy. After losing the first set 6-7 (3-7), she came back strongly to grab the next two sets 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 and with that the crown. The match lasted for over three hours.

Veteran Rushmi showed that she holds a lot of passion for the game when she broke Reddy in the fifth game of the second set after trailing 0-4 and won it folllowing a tie-breaker.

Rushmi suffered back pain and asked medical assistance after the second game of the third set but didn’t give up, winning it 7-5.  “It was the toughest match of the tournament and I am happy to win the match after a tough competition from a young girl,” said Rushmi after the match.

Myneni, 24, won his match comfortably over State-mate Suresh after breaking him in the sixth game of the first set, followed by seventh in the second set, serving seven aces on his way to victory in just 57 minutes.

After winning his maiden tournament on grass court, Myneni expressed happiness and hoped to play in the Davis Cup for India in near future.