Seasoned pro Nitten Kirrtane of Maharashtra created the first major upset when he sent fifth seed Hardeep Singh Sandhu of Punjab crashing out handing him a straight sets defeat in the men’s singles event of the AITA Ranking Rs 22 lakh prize-money JVPG Anirudh Desai All-India Open Tennis Tournament 2018, which is scheduled to commence at the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana’s floodlit tennis courts on Monday.
Nitten Kirrtane
The Pune-based 43-year-old Kirrtane, showed that age has no bearing and hardly counts as he put to good advantage his vast experience to outshine the 23-year-old Sandhu without much of an effort. The left-handed Kirrtane pounced on every single opportunity to punish his young opponent as he waltzed to a fluent 6-3, 7-6(3) win to serve a warning to the rest of the field.
Sixth seed Prajwal Dev of Karnataka had an easy first round romping to a straight sets 6-3, 6-1 win against his state mate Niki K. Poonacha to book his place in the second round.
In women’s competition, top seed Mahak Jain of Madhya Pradesh brooked no opposition from Neru Rapria and conceded a solitary point as she cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win in a first round match. Meanwhile sixth seed Humera Shaikh from Telangana was taken the distance before prevailing over Iska Teertha of Hyderabad 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.
Results – Men’s singles 1st round: Nitten Kirrtane (Mah) beat Hardeep Singh Sandhu (Pjb) 6-3, 7-6(3); Jayesh Pungliya (Pun) bt Yugal Bansal (Del) 6-4, 6-4; 6-Prajwal Dev (Ktk) bt Niki K. Poonacha (Ktk) 6-3, 6-1.
Women’s singles 1st round: 6-Humera Shaikh bt Iska Teertha 6-1, 5-7, 6-4; Mahak Jain (MP) bt Neru Rapria 6-1, 6-0.