Nautiyal sets up U-16 final clash with Batra

Delhi boy Shashank Nautiyal halted Prajwal Dev's giant-killing spree in the semifinals on Friday to set up a title clash with Garvit Batra in boys under-16 of the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship.

Shashank beat Prajwal 7-6(3) 4-6 6-1 in the semifinal, while fellow Delhi player Garvit moved into the final with a comfortable victory over M Sai Nikhil 7-5 6-2. In the girls under-16 final, top two seeds S Snehadevi and Pranjalla Yadlapalli will be up against each other.

Snehadevi continued her good run with another authoritative performance as she powered her way into the title clash with a 6-1 6-0 thrashing of Akshara Iska. Pranjalla, meanwhile, got the better of Ramya Natarajan 6-4 6-2.

Earlier, in the boys under-16, Shashank did not have the best of starts as he was broken in the very first game of the match.

He, however, made it equal after breaking back his opponent in the very next game. The first set eventually moved into the tie break and Shashank held on to his nerves to clinch it.

Prajwal made a comeback in the second set but looked tired in the decider. Shashank capitalised on that and broke his rival a number of times in that set before finally converting a break point in the seventh game to seal the match in his favour.

In the under-14 boys category, Alex Solanki squandered a good lead in the first set to lose 5-7 4-6 to Sanil Jagtiani of West Bengal in the semi-finals. Sanil will take on top seed BR Nikshep, who defeated Paramweer Singh Bajwa 6-3 6-4, in the other semi final.

In the girls U-14, Mihika Yadav stunned top seed Sruta Gungunati from Andhra Pradesh 6-2 6-1 to make it to the final where she will take on Vanshika Sawhney who shut the door on Himani Mor 7-6(2) 6-4.

... contd.

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