Kolkata, Dec 26 (IANS) Qualifier Ashutosh Singh of Delhi and wild card Ankita Raina of Gujarat carved out contrasting victories to clinch the men’s and women’s national titles respectively at the Vishwarupa Tubes National Grasscourt Tennis Championship here Saturday.
While Ashutosh managed to pip fifth seed P.C. Vignesh of Andhra Pradesh 0-6, 7-6(3),

6-2, Ankita shut out fourth-seeded Karnataka girl Sheethal Goutham in straight sets 7-6(2), 6-2 in the finals at the Calcutta South Club.

Ashutosh staged a terrific comeback after dropping the first set to level the issue by taking the second, in which there were no breaks.

In the decider, Ashutosh moved into top gear and broke Vignesh in the fourth and eighth games to win the crown and become richer by Rs.35,100. He also got 60 AITA points, while Vignesh had to be content with Rs.24,300 and 45 points.

The 105-minute women’s final saw Ankita break Sheethal in the second game of the maiden set to race to a 4-1 lead. Sheethal, however, fought back and broke Ankita in the seventh and ninth games while dropping her serve in the eighth to push the set to the tie-break, where Ankita prevailed.

Ankita was more careful in her shot selections in the second set and took five straight games to open up an enviable 5-0 lead. She could have wrapped it up in the next game had she not squandered two match points at 40-15 only to see her serve broken. But she held her serve in the eighth game to win the title and pocket Rs.23,400 and 25 AITA points.

Sheethal earned Rs.16,200 and 20 AITA points.

City girls Shivika Burman and Treta Bhattacharyya claimed the women’s doubles title at the expense of Sheethal Goutham of Karnataka and Sweta Solanki of Delhi. Treta and Shivika won 7-6(2), 1-6, 10-7.

Second-seeded Vijay Sundar Prashanth and Mithun Murali of Tamil Nadu walked away with the men’s doubles honours, defeating the top-seeded Delhi pair of Divij Sharan and Vivek Shokeen after a keenly fought 107-minute encounter, 6-4, 6-7(4-7), 11-9.

The match was tied Friday at one set all when play stopped because of failing light.

Results of matches played Saturday:

Men’s Singles Finals: Ashutosh Singh (Dli)(Q) beat P.C. Vignesh (AP)(5)

0-6, 7-6(7-3), 6-2.

Women’s Singles Finals : Ankita Raina (Guj)(WC) beat Sheethal Goutham (Kar)(4) 7-6(7-2), 6-2.

Men’s Doubles finals : Vijay Sundar Prashant (TN) and Mithun Murali (TN)(2) beat Divij Sharan (Dli) and Vivek Shokeen (Dli)(1) 6-4, 6-7(4-7), 11-9.

Women’s doubles finals : Shivika Burman (WB) and Treta Bhattacharyya (WB)(1) beat Sheethal Goutham (Kar) and Shweta Solanki (Dli)(4) 7-6(7-2) ,1-6, 10-7.