National Tennis Championship: Kunal Anand, Dakshineshwar Suresh enter second round; Mohit Prakash bows out due to injury

New Delhi: Fourth seed Kunal Anand and Dakshineshwar Suresh entered the men’s singles second round of Fenesta Open but former champion Mohit Mayur Prakash bowed out of the National Hard Courts Tennis Championship due to a knee injury on Monday. Delhi’s fourth seed Kunal faced some stiff resistance from UP’s Lakshya Gupta, who impressed with his ground strokes but eventually emerged a 6-2, 6-4 winner on the opening day of the 25th edition of the tournament. [caption id=“attachment_7194531” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] With a stronger built and experience behind him, Kunal played the key points better, even as the young Lakshya gave his all in the contest. Dakshinehswar, the tall Chennai player, had an easy day in office as he thrashed state-mate Mohammad Fahad 6-2, 6-1 in his opening round. “This was a kind of warm up. I have worked on my fitness in the last six months and have become stronger. My new coach wants me to get some muscles,” said Daskshineshwar, who now trains with Rajiv Vijay Kumar in Chennai. A lot of people gathered to watch Mayur, who became a champion way back in 2013, in action but he retired mid way into the contest against third seed Eshaque Iqbal from West Bengal. Mohit stepped on to the courts with his left knee supported by a thin covering. His deep returns were troubling the Kolkatan and he was leading 6-4 1-0 when he pulled out of the contest. On the women’s side, young Rashmikaa Bhamidipaty from Telangana knocked out sixth seed Sai Samhita from Chennai, 7-5, 6-3. Sai Samhita’s single-hand backhand was at work but Rashmikaa served much better, setting up free-flowing forehand winners. Third seed Vaidehi Chaudhary double bageled Chandigarh’s Himanshika Singh (6-0 6-0) in her first round match. Sanskrithi Damera also scored a dominating win, hammering Salsa Aher 6-0 6-1, while seventh seed Yubrani Banerjee beat Deeksha Manju 6-2 6-2. Tejasvi Kate beat local girl Avika Sagwal 6-3 6-1.