Nikit, Sonashe triumph

Karnataka’s Nikit M Reddy and Sonashe Bhatnagar clinched the boys’ and girls’ singles titles respectively in the SAT-Indian Oil AITA Talent Series (under-14) junior tennis tournament at the SAT courts here on Friday.

In the boys’ summit clash, top seed Nikit put it past Surya Elangovan of Tamil Nadu 6-3, 6-4 while Sonashe registered a 6-3, 7-5 victory over State-mate Paarvi Patel in the girls’ title decider.

Nikit, who had not dropped a set in the tournament, ran into an aggressive Surya in the first set. The two traded early breaks but Nikit managed to keep his focus to grab the big points. Two successive breaks in the seventh and ninth games helped Nikit to close out the set at 6-3.  Nikit raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set and was on course for a comfortable win but Surya turned the tables soon. Surya’s forehand was doing the damage as he reduced the lead to 3-2 but Nikit broke serve in the sixth game to nudge ahead 4-2 and held serve to claim the title.

In the girls’ final, Sonashe didn’t face any problems against Paarvi in the first set as she won 6-3.  However, Sonashe was given a stiff challenge in the second set by Paarvi before the former held her nerve to seal victory.

Results (both finals): Boys’ singles: Nikit M Reddy (Kar) bt Surya Elangovan (TN) 6-3, 6-4. Girls’ singles: Sonashe Bhatnagar (Kar) bt Paarvi Patel (Kar) 6-3, 7-5.