Thaindian News

Kolkata, March 3 (IANS) Men’s sixth seed Krishna Suresh upset second-seeded Andhra Pradesh teammate P.C. Vignaesh while top-ranked Ashutosh Singh of Delhi withstood a strong second set challenge from S.Tejesvi to move into the semifinal of the National Grasscourt Tennis Championships Thursday.

Suresh took exactly 120 minutes to get past Vignaesh 3-6,6-1,6-2 in a three-setter. The first set went to Vignesh with a lone break in the fourth game. In the second, Suresh came back breaking Vignesh in the fourth and sixth games to take the set and level the issue. However, in the decider, Suresh broke Vignesh in the third and seventh games to march into the last four.

After coasting through the first set, Ashutosh faced stiff resistance from the Andhra Pradesh player but finally finished on the right side of a 6-1,7-6(7-1) result after a 79-minute duel.

Bengal’s Saurav Sukul, the seventh seed, caused a mini upset by getting the better of fourth seeded Ajai Selvaraj of Tamil Nadu 3-6,7-5, 6-3 in 125 minutes.

Unseeded Akash Wagh of Maharashtra continued his fine show to account for fifth-seeded Delhi’s Yannick Nelord and set up a pre-summit round challenge against Ashutosh. Wagh, who had earlier toppled top seed Vijay Sundar Prashanth of Tamil Nadu in the opening round, made short work of Nelord in 65 minutes, 6-4,6-1. There was a lone service break in the first set in the third game. In the second, Nelord could retain his serve only in the third game.

The results of matches played Thursday :

Men’s Singles Quarter Finals : Akash Wagh (Mah) beat Yannick Nelord (Dli)(5) 6-4,6-1; Ashutosh Singh (Dli) beat S. Tejesvi (AP) 6-1,7-6(7-1);

Saurav Sukul (WB)(7) beat Ajai Selvaraj (TN)(4) 3-6,7-5,6-3; Krishna Suresh (AP) beat P.C. Vignesh (AP)(2) 3-6,6-1,6-2.

Women’s Singles Quarter Finals : Srivaishnavi Peddireddy (AP)(Q) beat Gopika Kapoor (Dli)(5) 6-2,6-2; Kyra Firdaus Shroff (Mah)(3)(WC) beat Treta Bhattacharyya (WB)(6) 6-4,6-4; Rishika Sunkara (Dli)(Q) beat Sonal Phadke (Mah)(Q) 6-3,6-4; Aishwarya Agarwal (MP)(Q) beat Preethi Srinivasan (TN) 6-0,6-2.

Men’s Doubles Semi Finals : Abhijeet Tiwari (Cg) & Akash Wagh (Mah) beat Ronak Manuja (Mah) & Shahbaaz Khan (Mah)(4) 7-6(7-1),6-2; Sunil Kumar Sipaeya (Chd) & Prahlad Srinath (Kar) beat Vijay Sundar Prashanth (TN) & Ajai Selvaraj (TN)(2) 6-3,4-6,10-8.

Women’s Doubles Semi Finals Unfinsihed : Shivika Burman (WB) & Kyra Shroff (Mah) leading Treta Bhattacharyya (WB) & Arantxa Andrady (Dli)(3) 7-6(7-1),5-5; Ankita Raina (Guj) & Rishika Sunkara (Dli) leading Gopika Kapoor (Dli) & Aishwarya Agarwal 7-6(7-2).