Tennis lovers throng MTC for finals

Vishnu Vardhan hopes more Indians would play in grand slams in future

The $10,000 Zuari Garden City ITF Mysore Open concluded here on Saturday with second seed Vishnu Vardhan staking claim to the men’s singles title.

Witnessing the finals were a large number of spectators including former Indian cricketer Javagal Srinath, who arrived to watch the thrilling finals between Vishnu Vardhan and N Sriram Balaji.

Even though Vardhan defeated Balaji in straight sets, a tough fight ensued between the duo in the first set, which ended in a tie-breaker.

Speaking after receiving the trophy, an elated Vardhan said, “I am happy to win here and Balaji is a much improved player and has done well in the ITF circuit in India.”

Elaborating on the match, Vardhan said, “Balaji is always a tough rival. I think he was unlucky in the first set where he had three set points in the tie break and I had to rely on my experience to get through.”

Continuing, he said, “In the second set however it was much easier as he seemed to be tiring out after having played a doubles final and three setter semi-finals yesterday”. He hoped that more Indian players would be playing at the Grand Slams in the coming years.

Break

Vardhan will also play in the Bangalore Open and later will take a break for couple of weeks before playing in few more tournaments abroad. Vishnu Vardhan took home prize money of $1300 and pocketed 18 points while Balaji received $900 and earned 12 points.

Srinath who spoke said that the tennis players were definitely more fit than the cricketers as the game demands it. He lauded both the players for their fine show.

Earlier, during the week, a kids clinic was organised on the sidelines of the tournament with players including N Sriram Balaji, Siddarth Rawat and Arun Prakash Rajagopalan giving valuable tips to budding tennis players.

Zuari Industries chief financial officer Binayak Dutta gave away the prizes to the winner and runner-up.

Deputy commissioner P S Vastrad, All India Tennis Association (AITA) vice-president Kartik Chidambaram, police commissioner K L Sudheer, Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association secretary Sunder Raju, TVS Motors’ Chikkaswamy, Zygo Sports management company and KSLTA coach Sunil Yajman and Mysore Tennis Club president Dr N M Srinivas were present.