Siddharth Vishwakarma, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty emerge National tennis champions

National tennis champions Siddharth Vishwakarma and Shrivalli Bhamidipaty in Delhi on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan

Siddharth Vishwakarma asserted his undisputed class with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Karan Singh in the final of the Fenesta National tennis championship at the DLTA Complex on Saturday.

In the women’s final, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty dethroned defending champion Vaidehi Chaudhari in a thriller 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5), in a battle of wits that lasted three hours and 17 minutes.

The 29-year-old Siddharth had won the title last time in 2018, but his tennis career had struggled owing to knee and shoulder injuries. Coach Rattan Sharma who has been working with the left-hander in recent months assured that Siddharth, who whips the ball impressively, would soon assert his game in the international professional circuit.

After a little stumble in the first set, Siddharth did not put a foot wrong and entertained everyone with a delightful game.

There was no dearth of entertainment in the women’s final as the doubles champions Shrivalli and Vaidehi did not give an inch to each other. Shrivalli had won the National title in Gurugram, before the Fenesta National championship was revived after the pandemic.

In a crisp speech, she thanked her battery of coaches, physios, trainers, with special emphasis on coach Vishaal Uppal who has been mentoring her with diligence in the last few months.

The champions were presented Rs. 3,00,000 each while the runners-up pocketed Rs. 2,00,000.

Rushil Khosla and Aishwarya Jadhav emerged the under-18 boys’ and girls’ champions respectively.

The results (finals): Men: Siddharth Vishwakarma bt Karan Singh 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Women: Shrivalli Bhamidipaty bt Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5).

Under-18: Boys: Rushil Khosla bt Samarth Sahita 6-3, 6-3.

Girls: Aishwarya Jadhav bt Suhitha Maruri 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.