Zeel, Prerna in winning mode at the Fenesta Open National tennis championship

On Monday, the first day of the premier national event in the tennis calendar, Zeel had little trouble in finding the direction of her strokes and depth. The first outing was good preparation for tougher matches ahead in the draw.

“It was my first round with Vanshika but she is a good player. I maintained my level till the end. Though the score-line looks easy I am satisfied with the way I played today. The only thing I would like to say is ‘Never Give up’, “ said Zeel later.

Another competitor from Delhi, Prerna Bhambri was ruthless as she toyed with Neeru Rapria from Haryana and won 6-0,6-0 in the women’s singles. Prerna is a strong player and was not in the mood to give her opponent any liberty on the hard courts at the DLTA complex. On a warm day, Prerna played fluent on either flank for her victory.

“I think I played really well today, everything fell in place. My opponent also was really good. I am glad my shots came well. So, I look forward to play tomorrow,” said Prerna.

Tamil Nadu’s Sai Samhitha, seeded three, used her strokes well to outlast Nidhi Chilumula 6-2, 6-2.

In the mens singles Arjun Khade keeps his spot in the next round and sailed through with a win against Kunal Anand 6-3, 6-1.

Jayesh Pungliya had a routine 6-4, 6-4 win against Paramveer Bajwa in men’s singles. There was mild surprise when PC Vignesh lost to Siddharth Vishwakarma from UP 1-6, 6-7 (3/7). Though Siddharth was sixth seed, Vignesh relatively has more experience.

In under-18 boys, the favourites cruised with top seed Siddhant Bhantia ousting Aarya Pandit 6-1, 6-2.

MENS SINGLES: Arjun Khade (MH) (seed 1) bt Kunal Anand (DL) 6-3, 6-1; Jayesh S Pungliya (MH) bt Paramveer S Bajwa (PB) 6-4, 6-4; Siddharth Vishwakarma (UP) (seed 6) bt P C Vignesh (TS) 6-1, 7-6 (3). WOMEN’S SINGLES: Zeel Desai (GJ) (Seed 1) bt Vanshika Chaudhury (DL) 6-2, 6-1; C Sai Samhitha (TN) (seed 3) bt Nidhi Chilumula (TS) 6-2, 6-2; Prerna Bhambari (DL) (seed 4) bt Neeru Rapria (HR) 6-0, 6-0.