New Delhi, Oct 3: The semifinals of the 30th Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship at the DLTA Complex produced contrasting dramas on Friday (October 3) as Tamil Nadu's Manish Sureshkumar and Keerthivassan Suresh advanced to the men's final while Vaishnavi Adkar and Akanksha Nitture booked the women's title clash.
Manish recovered from a shockingly slow start to dismantle West Bengal's fourth seed Ishaque Eqbal, rallying from 1-6 to domineer the next two sets 6-1, 6-1.
Eqbal's early aggression - two breaks and a clear upper hand in the first set - was bluntly answered as Manish tightened his footwork, found deeper ball-striking and took control of baseline exchanges. Once he secured an early break in the second set the match tilted decisively
in his favour and he wrapped the contest with two near-identical sets.
The other men's semi was an endurance test. Keerthivassan Suresh edged past Madwin Kamath 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 in a four-hour, ten-minute classic. The opening set's tie-break saw Keerthivassan's steady back-court retrievals and patience repay him, but Kamath roared back in the second by breaking early and never letting off. The decider remained tight until Keerthivassan grabbed the pivotal break at 4-4 and held nerve to close out a hard-fought victory.
On the women's side, top seed Vaishnavi Adkar produced a ruthless display to dismiss fourth seed Soha Sadiq 6-1, 6-0. Vaishnavi's aggressive returns and movement allowed her to break immediately and then run away with the match in just about an hour, conceding only one game. Akanksha Nitture, the second seed, completed the women's line-up with a spirited comeback - after losing the first set 3-6 to Jennifer Luikham, Akanksha steadied her serve and struck deeper returns to win 6-2, 6-1.
Junior ties also produced decisive winners: in U-18 girls' semis seventh seed Snigdha Kanta beat local favourite Shreeniti Chowdhury 7-6, 6-0, while fourth seed Tavish Pawa defeated fifth seed Gandharv Gourav 6-2, 6-2 in the boys' half.
Organised by the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) and supported by DCM Shriram Ltd., the Fenesta Open - India's biggest domestic event - carries a prize pool exceeding ₹21.55 lakh, plus kit allowances and junior scholarships (₹25,000 each for U16 and U14 singles winners and runners-up). The Boys and Girls U-16 & U-14 qualifying and main draws will begin on October 5, with finals and the senior title matches to follow.
The finals promise contrasting styles - Manish's tactical recovery versus Keerthivassan's attritional game, and Vaishnavi's ruthless baseline control against Akanksha's resilience - setting up an exciting conclusion to the 30th Fenesta Open.
