National Tennis Championship: Vishnu Vardhan bows out after straight-set defeat to young Nitin Sinha

New Delhi: Eyeing his maiden men’s singles title at the Fenesta Open, young Nitin Sinha scalped experienced Vishnu Vardhan while top seeds in both men’s and women’s singles advanced to the second round of the National Hard Courts Tennis Championships, on Tuesday. While qualifier Vishnu served strong, Nitin returned well throughout to come out a 6-4, 6-0 winner at the DLTA complex. [caption id=“attachment_454438” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Vishnu Vardhan. AFP[/caption] “I wanted to make as many returns as possible and enjoy the match. I felt good on the court and I feel I have a chance to win title this year,” said Nitin, who had lost in the semifinals last year. In the battle of former champions, sixth seed Dalwinder Singh beat VM Ranjeet 7-6(4), 6-3. “Today was my first match and I settled down well. The start has been amazing and I look forward to more wins,” Dalwinder said. Top seed Nikki Poonacha had to play solid tennis to get the better of Sai Karteek 7-5, 6-4. “It was a great game and a good warm up for the tournament. I aim to give my best in the coming matches,” he said. Fifth seed Prajwal Dev beat Kavin Masilamani 6-1, 6-4. In the women’s singles, the favourites rolled into the second round with top seed Sowjanya Bavisetti ousting Anusha 6-2, 6-1. “It was an interesting game. Going forward, I want to focus on one game at a point,” said Sowjanya. Second seed Bhuvna Kalva had to fight hard to beat Sara Yadav 6-2, 7-5 while experienced Prerna Bhambri defeated Sudipta Sen 6-2, 6-3. “Sudeepta played really well which made it even more interesting. I’m looking forward to give my best tomorrow,” said Prerna.