Sanam bags ITF crown

Sanam K Singh on Saturday clinched the ITF Men’s Future $10,000 tennis tournament after defeating N Sriram Balaji 7-5, 6-3 in the singles final.

After trailing 2-5 in the first set, 24-year-old Sanam made a strong comeback to prevail upon the 21-year-old at the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association stadium.

The duo were involved in some long rallies but the unseeded Sanam, who had earlier beaten top seed Vishnu Vardhan en route to the final, held his nerve.

On his win, Sanam said, “I feel quite happy having won before the home crowd. This is my first singles title after turning pro last year in Virginia.”

“Balaji is tall and has big serve. There were some pressure moments being a final. I had a plan which was not to make too many errors and I just waited for my chances, which helped,” he said and praised CLTA in his grooming, stating that “every kid needs a good base to make it big”.

“I was here for over seven years and that laid a good foundation for me. Now, I am trying to get my ranking up and represent India in Davis Cup soon,” he said.