National Tennis C'ship: Sharmada, Zeel, Nikki, and Digvijay enter finals

New Delhi, Oct 29 (IANS) Sharmada Balu, Zeel Desai, Nikki Poonacha, and Digvijay Pratap Singh registered wins in their respective matches and entered the finals of the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship, here on Friday.

Continuing her fairytale run in the championship, Sharmada outgunned second seed Vaidehi Chaudhari 6-4, 6-3 in the women's singles semi-finals. Her opponent in Saturday's final will be top seed Zeel Desai, who showed zeal in getting past Samhitha Sai Chamarthi 6-2, 6-2.

"I think I played really good today. My opponent was no pushover but my game was in place. I am happy to pull off this win and give it my best shot in the final on Saturday," said Balu after the win.

On the other hand, Zeel Desai was also in her comfort zone against Samhitha as she dropped just four games in her semi-final win.

"Today I was playing a senior opponent so I had to play a much more mature game. She was more experienced than me, so I played mature and I was patient on the court. I went through it and am looking forward to the final," said Zeel.

The men"s singles final will be contested by Nikki K Poonacha and Digvijay Pratap Singh.

Against seasoned campaigner Nitin Kumar Sinha, the third seed, Digivijay showed variety and vibrance as he outslugged Nitin 6-1, 5-7, 7-5. The long match was a test of skills, patience and energy levels as well.

"It was again a long grind today 'ike yesterday's match. I won the first set easy but then I struggled to finish it in the second. But just like before, I managed to keep my calm and finally managed to get the win," said a modest Digvijay after the win.

In the second semi-final, Nikki K Poonacha also needed to bring his best game into play against Paras Dahiya for a win in three sets. Nikki won 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 in a match where both the players showed tenacity and good temperament.

"It was a tough game, I was up 5-4 in the second set but I couldn't use my serve well I think and I lost the game. Even in the second set tie- breaker I had some challenges, but missed. My focus was on the third set, so I started good and I kept increasing the pressure. From there on, it was easy," said Nikki.

Meanwhile, in the womens' doubles final, Sharmada Balu/ Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi (seed 3) beat Vaidehi Chaudhari/ Mihika Yadav 6-2, 6-3.

In the men's doubles final, Prajwal S D Dev/ Nikki K Poonacha (seed 1) beat Chandril Sood/ Lakshit Sood 6-2, 7-6(3).