Super Saturday: Rethin and Vaidehi reign supreme. | Photo credit: Kamesh Srinivasan

Rethin Pranav battled cramps to score an incredible 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win over Nitin Kumar Sinha to clinch the men’s title in the Fenesta National tennis championship at the DLTA Complex on Saturday.

The 17-year-old Rethin, who now trains in Chennai, was remarkably calm in the face of a difficult situation when his energy was low, to the extent that Nitin played with him at mid-on.

It seemed that Rethin had regained energy with every sip of water as he continued to hydrate himself even between points and took the lead in the clutch moments, much to Nitin’s disappointment.

The champion’s check of Rs. With a margin of 3,00,000, it was indeed a fairytale in Indian tennis as Rethin had made it to the main draw as a lucky loser. After losing the third and final qualifying round to Bhicky Sagolshem and winning four matches, Rethin was lucky as his name was drawn to fill the only vacancy in the main draw.

Rethin took the place of defending Davis Cup champion Siddharth Vishwakarma, who opted out of the tournament.

After waiting in vain for a few days hoping for a lucky loser spot at the US Open junior event in New York last month, Rethin would appreciate the tide turning in his favor.

He showed that he could hit quite sharply when necessary and that he had a lot of patience to stay in the rallies.

There was no such fairy tale ending for 15-year-old Maaya, the qualifier who had lost a total of just 29 matches while winning the previous seven matches.

Vaidehi Chaudhari, the 2022 champion and last year’s runner-up to Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, was far too fluid and consistent as she led 6-3, 5-0 before Maaya could get to grips with proceedings.

The Ahmedabad girl eventually overcame the nerves and closed the match 6-3, 6-3.

Maaya was understandably disappointed that she did not play her best in the final even though she was paid the highest salary of Rs. 2,00,000 in her young tennis career.

Aradhya Kshitij overcame stiff competition from Shanker Heisnam to capture the under-18 boys title, while Prisha Shinde bounced back from the brink of defeat to beat Diya Ramesh for the under-18 girls crown.

The result (final): Men: Rethin Pranav and Nitin Kumar Sinha 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

Women: Vaidehi Chaudhari bt Maaya Rajeshwaran 6-3, 6-3.

Boys under 18 years: Aradhya Kshitij from Shanker Heisnam 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.

Girls under 18 years: Prisha Shinde with Diya Ramesh 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-2.