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Delhi lad Yuki Bhambri edged out Vishnu Vardhan (Tamil Nadu) 6-4, 7-6 (6) in a thrilling encounter to win the men's singles title at the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship here on Saturday.
It was a battle between two equals and the two rivals had a similar style of play. Both preferred to sit on the baseline with rare forays to the net. The tall and well-built Vishnu was the more powerful of the two and his powerful serve caused problems for Yuki on several occasions.
The two Davis Cuppers made full use of their international experience and the crowd was left mesmerized by the numerous deft placements and skilfull volleys. Vishnu, however, was the more error prone of the two and tried to put that extra bit of power into every shot which saw the ball overshoot the line several times.
That ultimately proved to his undoing as Yuki played a more controlled game and held his nerve during the crucial periods to emerge triumphant. But the contest saw a fair bit of controversy as well with the chair umpire giving questionable calls in favour of Yuki three times.
Yuki clinched the early advantage by breaking Vishnu's serve in the third game while Vardhan almost broke Yuki's serve in the eighth game, but the local challenger fought back from 0-30 down to extend his lead to 5-3.
The second set was an extremely thrilling, high voltage affair. Yuki broke Vardhan in the very first game. But with the Delhi lad showing visible signs of fatigue in the blazing heat, Vishnu managed to break back to get back to level terms.
That set up a thrilling finish with the issue poised at six games each. When Yuki forced the tie-break on the last point, Vishnu almost exploded in fury as he argued over a questionable line call. The Tamil Nadu player's argument received a lot of support from the sporting Delhi crowd but the incident had broken Vishnu's concentration.
He did fire a couple of powerful aces to take the opening two points of the tie-break, but his focus had deserted him. Finally, when Vishnu hit yet another unforced error to lose the match, Yuki was ecstatic. The former Australia Open junior champion rushed to the net, hugged Vishnu and then walked off the court.
"This has been a good week for me. I am glad I am the national champion now," said Yuki who got the winner's cheque of Rs 1.5 lakh.
“It is a great feeling. It was a great contest, Vishnu really played well. I lost my concentration for a while in the second set but remained patient to win the title. I think, I was trying to do a bit more," the 19-year-old added.
When asked about the debatable line calls by the officials Yuki decided to play it safe. "I was unable to see whether the ball crossed the line or not from my side of the court. But if Vishu has some problems with the decisions, there may be some amount of truth in it," he said.
Vardhan, who had made a very impressive debut at India's Davis Cup tie against Japan, said he had his chances but the better player won. "Yuki is a very good player and he played some really good tennis today. I had my moments in the game but, particularly during the second set but unfortunately could not hold on to them. After losing the first set I had to come hard and in the way I gave away some easy points to Yuki, but I am happy with my performance over all. I played some good tennis throughout the tournament and even today I was happy to see some of the shots coming good," he said.
The Tamil Nadu player turned diplomatic when quizzed on his outburst on the court. "The umpire's decision is final. I had a lot unforced errors and that is what let me down," he remarked.
In the women's final, 15-year-old Rutuja shocked veteran Isha Lakhani 6-3, 6-3. Rutuja produced solid game and although Isha did try hard, she was physically beaten by the fitter player. "I did not play well at the start but improved later on," Rutuja said.
For her part, Isha said she did not expect to do so well here. "I did not come into the tournament with expectations at all. From the qualifying till here, being runner-up was a nice run," said Isha.
"I committed too many mistakes. I have a groin injury and was able to play at full stretch throughout this tournament," she added.
She also stated that was not disappointed at losing the title-clash. "I am happy to see a youngster winning the national title. Rutuja can do much better if she gets stronger physically. I did not come into the tournament with expectations at all. From the qualifying till here, being runner-up was a nice run," Isha said.
In the boys' under-18 final, Arjun Khade faced some resistance from Mohit Jayaprakash before winning 7-5, 6-1.P. Sri Vaishnavi won the girls' under-18 title as she outmatched Simran K.Sethi 2-6, 4-6, 6-1.
P Sri Vaishnavi won the girls' under-18 title as she rallied to beat Simran K Sethi 2-6, 4-6, 6-1.
It was a battle between two equals and the two rivals had a similar style of play. Both preferred to sit on the baseline with rare forays to the net. The tall and well-built Vishnu was the more powerful of the two and his powerful serve caused problems for Yuki on several occasions.
The two Davis Cuppers made full use of their international experience and the crowd was left mesmerized by the numerous deft placements and skilfull volleys. Vishnu, however, was the more error prone of the two and tried to put that extra bit of power into every shot which saw the ball overshoot the line several times.
That ultimately proved to his undoing as Yuki played a more controlled game and held his nerve during the crucial periods to emerge triumphant. But the contest saw a fair bit of controversy as well with the chair umpire giving questionable calls in favour of Yuki three times.
Yuki clinched the early advantage by breaking Vishnu's serve in the third game while Vardhan almost broke Yuki's serve in the eighth game, but the local challenger fought back from 0-30 down to extend his lead to 5-3.
The second set was an extremely thrilling, high voltage affair. Yuki broke Vardhan in the very first game. But with the Delhi lad showing visible signs of fatigue in the blazing heat, Vishnu managed to break back to get back to level terms.
That set up a thrilling finish with the issue poised at six games each. When Yuki forced the tie-break on the last point, Vishnu almost exploded in fury as he argued over a questionable line call. The Tamil Nadu player's argument received a lot of support from the sporting Delhi crowd but the incident had broken Vishnu's concentration.
He did fire a couple of powerful aces to take the opening two points of the tie-break, but his focus had deserted him. Finally, when Vishnu hit yet another unforced error to lose the match, Yuki was ecstatic. The former Australia Open junior champion rushed to the net, hugged Vishnu and then walked off the court.
"This has been a good week for me. I am glad I am the national champion now," said Yuki who got the winner's cheque of Rs 1.5 lakh.
“It is a great feeling. It was a great contest, Vishnu really played well. I lost my concentration for a while in the second set but remained patient to win the title. I think, I was trying to do a bit more," the 19-year-old added.
When asked about the debatable line calls by the officials Yuki decided to play it safe. "I was unable to see whether the ball crossed the line or not from my side of the court. But if Vishu has some problems with the decisions, there may be some amount of truth in it," he said.
Vardhan, who had made a very impressive debut at India's Davis Cup tie against Japan, said he had his chances but the better player won. "Yuki is a very good player and he played some really good tennis today. I had my moments in the game but, particularly during the second set but unfortunately could not hold on to them. After losing the first set I had to come hard and in the way I gave away some easy points to Yuki, but I am happy with my performance over all. I played some good tennis throughout the tournament and even today I was happy to see some of the shots coming good," he said.
The Tamil Nadu player turned diplomatic when quizzed on his outburst on the court. "The umpire's decision is final. I had a lot unforced errors and that is what let me down," he remarked.
In the women's final, 15-year-old Rutuja shocked veteran Isha Lakhani 6-3, 6-3. Rutuja produced solid game and although Isha did try hard, she was physically beaten by the fitter player. "I did not play well at the start but improved later on," Rutuja said.
For her part, Isha said she did not expect to do so well here. "I did not come into the tournament with expectations at all. From the qualifying till here, being runner-up was a nice run," said Isha.
"I committed too many mistakes. I have a groin injury and was able to play at full stretch throughout this tournament," she added.
She also stated that was not disappointed at losing the title-clash. "I am happy to see a youngster winning the national title. Rutuja can do much better if she gets stronger physically. I did not come into the tournament with expectations at all. From the qualifying till here, being runner-up was a nice run," Isha said.
In the boys' under-18 final, Arjun Khade faced some resistance from Mohit Jayaprakash before winning 7-5, 6-1.P. Sri Vaishnavi won the girls' under-18 title as she outmatched Simran K.Sethi 2-6, 4-6, 6-1.
P Sri Vaishnavi won the girls' under-18 title as she rallied to beat Simran K Sethi 2-6, 4-6, 6-1.
