Mumbai’s Aryan Goveas and Delhi’s Kunal Anand, recorded upset victories to storm into the men’s singles quarter-finals of the Rs 13 lakh AITA Ranking Anirudh Desai JVPG Tennis Tournament, hosted by JVPG, in association with Nine Hills, at their courts, here, on Wednesday.
Aryan Goveas
Shaking off a sluggish start, Aryan Goveas outplayed fourth seed Suraj Prabodh of Karnataka 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, while Delhi’s Kunal Anand, capitalising on some uncharacteristic unforced errors from Siddharth Rawat sent the second seed packing 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-2.
Goveas will now clash with 8th seed Jayesh Pungaliya, who got the better of Rajasthan’s Arpit Sharma 6-3, 6-1, while Anand will await the winner of the clash between 6th seed Shaikh Abdulla of AP and state mate Sai Saran Reddy.
It was smooth sailing for the top seed in the women’s pre-quarters, with top seed Natasha Palha of Goa and second seed Sharmadda Baluu of Karnatala waltzing into the last eight with straight set wins.. Also progressing into the quarters was third seed Samhitha C Sai of TN and fourth seed Amrita Mukherjee of WB.
Goveas was broken twice in the first set against Prabodh, failing to find his rhythm. However, he began solidly in the second, holding serve and then breaking Prabodh in the second for the crucial lead. Games went with serves thereafter, with Goveas serving out the set at 6-4.
The third set saw Goveas attacking Prabodh’s serve and breaking him twice. Playing a serve and volley game, Goveas also held with ease to take a 4-0 lead and the upper hand in the match before winning the decider 6-2.
Kunal Anand
It was an equal between Anand and Rawat with both taking a set each via the tie-breaker. However, the third set saw Anand step up the attack on the second seed, who is more of a counter puncher. With Rawat’s shots landing beyond the lines on either flanks, it was just a matter of time before Anand wrested the advantage and emerged a comfortable winner in the decider.
Main Draw Results:
Men’s (2nd Round): 5-Siddharth Vishwakarma (UP) bt Prajwal Dev (KA) 6-4, 6-1; 8-Jayesh Pungliya (MH) bt Arpit Sharma (RJ) 6-3, 6-1; Aryan Goveas (MH) bt 4-Suraj R Prabodh (KA) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2; Kunal Anand (Del) bt 2-Siddharth Rawat (UP) 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-2.
Women’s (2nd Round): 3-Samhitha C. Sai (TN) bt Himani Mor (HR) 6-1, 6-1; 4-Amrita Mukherjee (WB) bt Nida Kamal (MH) 6-0, 7-5; 7-Rashmi Teltumbde (MH) bt Sahan Shetty (KA) 6-2, 6-3; 1-Natasha Palha (GA) bt Teertha Iska (AP) 6-1, 6-2; Baburaj Nithyaraj (TN) bt 6-Sneha Padamata (AP) 6-4, 2-6, 6-0; Nandini Sharma (PB) bt Dedeepya Sai Y. (TS) 6-0, 6-1; 2-Sharrmadda Baluu (KA) bt Moulika Ram (AP) 6-1, 6-2
Men’s (1st Round ): 3-Anvit Bendre (MH) bt Anirudh C. Tarun (TS) 6-4, 6-3; 7-Vijay Kannan (TN) bt Vanshal D’souza (MH) 6-2, 6-1; 6-Abdullah Shaikh (AP) bt Deb Bibaswan (WB) 6-4, 6-1; 1-Mohit Mayur (TN) bt Armaan Bhatia (MH) 7-6(3), 6-3; 5- Siddharth Vishwakarma (UP) bt Maitreya Bhagat (MH) 6-4,6-1
Women (1st Round): 3-Samhitha C Sai (TN) bt Pareen Shivekar (MH) 6-4, 6-2; 4-Amrita Mukherjee (WB) bt Harshasai Challa (AP) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; 7-Rashmi Teltumbde (MH) bt Anusha K (AP) 6-3, 6-2; Dedeepya Sai Y. (TS) bt 8-Aastha Dargude (MH) 7-6(1), 6-3;
Doubles:
Women: Pareen Shivekar (TN) & Nida Kamal (MH) bt 5-Arthi Muniyan (TN) & Himani Mor (HR) 6-3, 6-3; Saumya Vig (GJ) & Dakshata Patel (MH) bt Tanasha Khandpur (MH) & Sagarika Phadke (MH) 6-4, 6-2; 1-Natasha Palha (GA) & 2-Sharrmada Ballu (KA) bt Stuti Singh Tomar (MP) & Anandita Mitra (MP) 6-1, 6-1; Simran Kejriwal (MH) & Isha Budwal (MP) bt Tanisha Rohira (KL) & Nithyaraj Baburaj (TN) 7-5, 6-4; Moulika Ram (AP) & Aastha Dargude (MH) bt K Anusha (AP) & Dedeepya Sai Y. (TS) 6-4, 6-1; 6-Sneha Padamata (AP) & Teertha Iska (AP) bt Sheetal Shetty (MH) & Sharmeen Rizvi (MH) 6-0, 6-1; 4-Amrita Mukherjee (WB) & 3-Samhitha C. Sai (TN) bt Preethi Ujjini (KA) & Akshara Iska (AP) 7-5, 4-6, 10-1; Shwetaa Rana (DL) & 7-Rashmi Teltumbde (MH) bt Sahan Shetty (KA) & Soha Sadiq (KA) 6-1, 6-0.