JOIN USYoung Haadin Bava weathered a spirited fightback from former national champion and Davis Cupper Nitten Kirrtane before eking out a 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 victory in the men’s singles first round of the Fenesta National tennis championships at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association on Monday.
Under hot and humid conditions, Kirrtane blew hot and cold during the two-hour and 40-minute contest. The 42-year-old squandered 1-4 lead to lose the opening set to 21-year-old Bava. And just when the Kerala player, coached by Chandigarh based Birbal Wadhera, had seized control with a 4-2 advantage in the second set, Kirrtane, with all his histrionics intact, clawed his way back to draw level.
The left-handed veteran then slid to 0-5 deficit in the decider before storming back into the match by making it 5-5. However, Bava with better fitness, held strong and advanced to the second round after Kirrtane dropped his serve in the 12th game.
“It is a great honour to play sir (Kirrtane). Even at this age, he is giving fight to all of us, which in a way is not good. My game was very up and down today but I rode on my fitness today. I hope to do better,” said Bava, who has been going to Spain for training stints and began working with Wadhera only recently.
In the other men’s singles matches, Sai Saran Byreddy beat Vilaser Khate 6-2, 6-1 while Ansu Kumar Bhuyan overcame mid-match slump, to beat Ankit Chopra 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1.
In the women’s singles, there were no such upsets. Fourth-seeded Pranjala Yadlapalli swept aside Aastha Dargude 6-2, 6-1 while fifth-seeded Sai Samhitha Chamarthi barely broke sweat against lucky loser Prakriti Bhanwani 6-2, 6-1.
Meanwhile, Karnataka’s Sharrmadaa Balu had an easy outing against Amrita Mukherjee, she recorded a 6-4, 6-0 win, while Neeru Rapria defeated Teertha Iska 6-4, 6-3.
Results: First round: Men’s singles: Haadin Bava bt 4-Nitten Kirrtane 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, Sai Saran Byreddy bt Vilaser Khate 6-2, 6-1, Ansu Kumar Bhuyan bt Ankit Chopra 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1, Faisal Qamar bt Bhavesh Gour 6-2, 7-5.
Women’s singles: 4-Pranjala Yadlapalli bt Aastha Dargude 6-2, 6-1, Jennifer Luikham bt Muskan Gupta 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-1, Sai Samhitha Chamarthi bt Prakriti Bhanwani 6-2, 6-1, Harsha Sai Challa bt Yurbani Banerjee 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-0, Samriti Punyani bt GS Vasavi 6-2, 6-4, Sharrmadaa Balu bt Amrita Mukherjee 6-4, 6-0, Neeru Rapria bt Teertha Iska 6-4, 6-3.