Top seed Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan of Tamil Nadu recovered from a second set loss to score a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 victory over state-mate Ajai Selvaraj and enter the men’s singles quarterfinals of the Fenesta National tennis championships at the DLTA complex here on Wednesday.
Jeevan ran away with the opening set with the breaks in the third and the fifth games, but Ajai playing solid with a booming serve and power-packed groundstrokes, took the second. But his body gave away in the decider and he took a medical timeout because of cramps and sore right shoulder. Jeevan closed out the third set without further hiccups.
“We have played each other often and he knows my game inside out. He was playing very well and with a lot of power. I didn’t play good in the second set but by the decider I got my rhythm (back) and even he started cracking up physically,” said Jeevan, who next plays fifth-seeded Ashwin Vijayraghavan, who scored a comfortable 6-2, 6-1 victory over Vinod Sridhar.
“I have played against Ashwin and the last time he beat me in two tie-breakers. I will have to raise my game.”
However, second-seeded V M Ranjeet and fourth-seeded P C Vignesh had to concede their matches.
Ranjeet, after drawing parity by taking the second set against Arjun Khade, twisted his ankle while stretching for a running forehand during the second game of the decider and had to be taken out on a wheelchair.
Vignesh, who was having fever, decided to pull out while trailing 4-6, 1-1 against Saurabh Singh.
In the women’ s singles, top seed Rishika Sunkara sailed into the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Devanshi Bhemjiyan. Second seed Prerna Bhambri was hardly challenged by Tarranum Handa during her 6-2, 6-2 victory. Handa, who won the singles title at the last AITA-ranking tournament, looked a spent force after her under-18 match against Mahitha Dadireddy, which she won 7-6 (11-9), 6-2.
Third-seeded Natasha Palha, too, made short work of Damini Sharma, winning 6-2, 6-3.
However, former champion Sonal Phadke lost to fifth-seeded Eettee Maehta 1-6, 2-6.
Results (second round): Men: Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan bt Ajai Selvaraj 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; Arjun Kadhe bt V M Ranjeet 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (retired); Ashwin Vijayaraghavan bt Vinod Sridhar 6-2, 6-1; Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash bt Ronak Manuja 6-3, 6-1; Saurabh Singh bt P C Vignesh 6-4, 1-0 (retired); Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Tejas Chaukalkar 6-0, 6-1; Siddharth Rawat bt Kaza V Sharma 7-6 (7-4), 6-1; Vaidik Munshaw bt Saurabh Sukul 6-2, 6-2.
Women: Eettee Maehta bt Sonal Phadke 6-1, 6-2; Vaniya Dangwal bt Megha Sherawat 3-0 (retired); Natsha Palha bt Daimini Sharma 6-2, 6-3; Sri Vaishnavi Peddireddy bt Vineeta Singh 6-0, 6-0; Rishika Sunkara bt Devanshi Bhemjiyani 6-2, 6-3; Prerna Bhambri bt Tarranum Handa 6-2, 6-2; Shweta Rana bt C Sai Samitha 6-2, 4-6, 6-2; Simran Sethi bt Bhuvana Kalva 7-5, 6-3.
Boys: Rishab Aggarwal bt Gokul Suresh 6-0, 6-1; Shaikh Abdullah bt B R Nikshep 6-4, 6-0; M Sai Nikhil bt Yash Deshpande 7-5, 6-4; Ranjeet Singh bt Vilaser Khate 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; Neeraj Elangovan bt Suraj R Prabodh 6-3, 6-2; Karan Salwan bt Keneizotu Whourie 6-4, 6-3; A K Pardhasaradh bt Rakshit Rishi 6-4, 6-1; Hardeep S Sandhu bt Sachin Kumar 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4.
Girls: Simran Sethi bt Isha Budwal 6-0, 6-0; C Sai Samitha bt Akshara Iska 6-3, 1-6, 6-3; Rimpledeep Kaur bt Devanshi Bhimjiyani 6-3, 6-2; Tarannum Handa bt Mahitha Dadireddy 7-6 (11-9), 6-2; Pranjalla Yadlappa bt Zeel Desai 6-2, 6-0; Amrita Mukherjee bt Shreya Pasricha 3-6, 6-4, 6-1; Nehal Sahni bt Rajbir Kaur 6-3, 6-3.
