Experience prevailed over youth as Vishnu Vardhan and Prerna Bhambri were crowned hard court champions in the Fenesta National tennis championship here on Saturday.
While Vishnu Vardhan beat talented Sidharth Rawat 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 for his maiden national hard court title in three attempts, Prerna completed a hat-trick of titles, defeating 16-year-old Karman Kaur Thandi 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Karman, though, had the consolation of winning the under-18 singles title beating Simran Kaur Sethi in a three-set slugfest in the evening, which nicely added to the women’s doubles title she won on Friday with Sai Samhitha. For Vishnu Vardhan, who had lost to Yuki Bhambri in 2011, it was a relief. After winning the first set, he almost derailed his campaign in the second. Relying on his powerful serves, Vishnu Vardhan outplayed Rawat with a flurry of aces to rattle the youngster. Rawat, who came into the match with the reputation of a giant-killer, looked nervous and barely able to play the ball.
But, Rawat slowly clawed his way back into the match, breaking Vishnu Vardhan in the fifth game of the second set to begin the turnaround. Vishnu Vardhan’s serves appeared to lose potency as Rawat grew in confidence, managing to return everything the senior pro threw at him. He broke Vishnu Vardhan again in the ninth game and then held his own to take the match into the decider.
Rawat almost caused his third major upset of the tournament before an umpire’s decision to replay a point in the seventh game of the decider broke his momentum. He could not recover as Vishnu Vardhan managed to hang on for victory. His impressive run in the tournament, however, helped Rawat secure a wild card for the upcoming ATP Challenger at Indore.
Prerna too had a tough outing against Karman. The six-foot tall teenager took advantage of her height, winning the first set with an impressive forehand. Prerna committed several errors as she failed to react in time to Karman’s quick returns. The defending champion, though, fought her way back to win the second and brought her experience into play to win the decider. Karman, though, returned to win the under-18 title later in the day, defeating Simran 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5). Karman won the first set but almost lost her way in the middle. Trailing 0-3 in the second, Simran reeled off seven straight games to take the set and a 1-0 lead in the third. The set went into the tie-breaker and Karman dug deep into her reserves as Simran, finalist last year as well, faltered.
In the boys’ final, Vidit Vaghela managed to get past Dalwinder Singh 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
The men’s and women’s singles winners received Rs. 3 lakh each and a wild card for the Delhi Open Challenger next year while the runners-up got Rs. 2 lakh each and a wild card to the qualifiers of the same tournament.
The results (finals): Men: Vishnu Vardhan bt Sidharth Rawat 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Women: Prerna Bhambri bt Karman Kaur Thandi 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Under-18: Boys: Vidit Vaghela bt Dalwinder Singh 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Girls: Karman Kaur Thandi bt Simran Kaur Sethi 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5).
