Vishnu regains title; Natasha is champion

January 19, 2014 02:53 am | Updated May 13, 2016 10:33 am IST - KOLKATA:

REASON TO SMILE: Natasha Palha and Vishnu Vardhan with their trophies. Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

REASON TO SMILE: Natasha Palha and Vishnu Vardhan with their trophies. Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

Third-seeded Vishnu Vardhan of Tamil Nadu regained the men’s singles crown, downing second-seeded Statemate J. Mohit Mayur in the final of the National grasscourt tennis at South Club on Saturday.

Natasha Palha of Goa became the new women’s champion, blowing away six-time winner Rushmi Chakravarthy of Tamil Nadu in straight sets.

Vishnu, who served 18 aces, showed great maturity and amazing control during his two-hour serve-and-volley game. Vishnu’s best came in the eighth game of the second set when he fired four successive aces.

“I have never seen any one serving four successive aces to win a game in South Club,” said Akhtar Ali, former Davis Cupper.

Mohit had problems with his serve. Vishnu broke him in the third game to take a 2-1 lead and held his own service games to win the first set 6-4.

Vishnu continued to dominate in the second set, serving 12 aces to retain the edge over Mohit. But the Tamil Nadu lad raised his game and took the set to tiebreaker. Vishnu, once again, served well to claim the set 7-4.

“This was my second appearance and I won the title on both occasions. This win feels even better as I could lift the crown without my service being broken in the tournament,” said Vishnu.

Natasha Palha, who had lost the final against Ankita Raina in the previous edition, did not miss the opportunity this time as she downed Rushmi Chakravarthi in straight sets.

“The win feels nice as this was my first National title at any level. I made too many errors last year (against Ankita) and I did not want to waste the opportunity this time,” Natasha said after her win.

Natasha could not complete a double crown as she and Nidhi Chilumula of Andhra Pradesh lost the doubles final against Rushmi and Bhuvana Kalva (Andhra Pradesh).

The results (finals): Men: Vishnu Vardhan (TN) bt J. Mohit Mayur (TN)) 6-4, 7-6(4). Doubles: Ronak Manuja (Mah) & Ashwin Vijayragavan (AP) bt N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth & Mohammad Fariz (TN) 7-6(2), 6-4.

Women: Natash Palha (Goa) bt Rushmi Chakravarthi (TN) 6-1, 6-1. Doubles: Rushmi & Bhuvana Kalva (AP) bt Natasha & Nidhi Chilumula (AP) 6-2, 7-6(4).

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