Maheta survives scare; Balu marches on

Eetee Maheta survived a match point before ending the impressive run of qualifier Mihika Yadav in the women’s singles quarterfinals of the Fenesta tennis national championships at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association on Thursday.

In fact, Mihika, who had taken out top seed Dhruthi Venogopal on Wednesday, was up a set and a break before she frittered away the advantage. She lost eight of the nine games to lose the second set and lagged 1-4 in the decider before clawing her way back to make it 4-4. She then held a match point, on Eeete’s serve but couldn’t cash in on it. Eeete then broke her immediately and served out the match to seal a place in the semifinals following three hours and 11 minutes battle.

Eetee next plays fourth-seeded Pranjala Yadlapalli who swept aside Jennifer Luikham 6-2, 6-1. She is yet to lose a set in the tournament.

In the other quarterfinals, Sharrmadaa Balu got the better of Vaidehi Chaudhari, who had played four matches, three singles (two women and one girls) and one doubles matches on Wednesday. Sharrmadaa won 7-5, 6-4 to set up a semifinal meeting with third-seeded Riya Bhatia. Riya fought back from a set down to pull out a 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-2 win over eightth-seeded Nidhi Chilumula in a marathon contest.

In the men’s singles, third-seeded Ranjeet Virali Muurgesan was upset by fifth-seeded Kunal Anand. Kunal lost the opening set after leading 5-4 but quickly seized control in the next two. He opened up a 4-0 lead in the decider to hasten his way to the semifinals. Awaiting him there will be top seed Vishnu Vardhan who doused a spirited challenge from Dalwinder Singh in a clinical 6-2, 6-4 victory.

In the other semifinals, Haddin Bava got the better of Jayesh Pungliya 7-5, 6-2 to set-up a meeting with Siddharth Vishwakarma, who defeated Tejas Chaukulkar 7-5, 6-4.

Quarterfinals: Men’s singles: 1-Vishnu Vardhan bt 6-Dalwinder Singh 6-3, 6-4; 5-Kunal Anand bt 3-Ranjeet Virali Murugesan 5-7, 6-4, 6-2; Haadin Bava bt 8-Jayesh Pungliya 7-5, 6-2; Siddharth Vishwakarma bt Tejas Chaukulkar 7-5, 6-4.

Women’s singles: 6-Eetee Maheta bt Mihika Yadav 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-5; Pranjala Yadlapalli bt Jennifer Luikham 6-2, 6-1; 3-Riya Bhatia bt 8-Nidhi Chilumula 6-2, 6-2; Sharrmadaa Balu bt Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3.