SportsPosted at: Oct 5 2026 9:10PM


Manish, Vaidehee kick off Fenesta Open campaigns with straight-sets victories

New Delhi, Oct 5 (UNI) Manish Sureshkumar and Vaidehee Chaudhari, the top seeds in the men’s and women’s singles draws, respectively, kicked off their campaigns with comfortable straight-sets wins at the 31st Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship at the DLTA Complex on Monday.
Sureshkumar, the defending champion, needed just 61 minutes to defeat Prasad Ingale 6-1, 6-2, while Chaudhari, a two-time former champion who missed last year’s edition due to injury,
dropped just one game in a 6-0, 6-1 win over Riya Sachdeva in 56 minutes.
“It was a good start. I just tried to be solid because it was the first match,” Sureshkumar said after his win.
“I tried to put as many balls on the court, get the rhythm. Today's match was more of being solid and trying to force the opponent to make an error. I think I was serving really well today. Hopefully,
I can continue the momentum to the upcoming rounds.”
Gunning for his third Fenesta Open title, Sureshkumar is feeling confident playing at what he described as one of his favourite venues.
“I have won this tournament twice already. Last year was pretty good. I didn't start pretty well last year but I was able to end it well. I have always liked playing on these courts in Delhi. This is one
of my favourite venues. I feel confident playing here and that's what I will be looking forward to,” the 27-year-old from Tamil Nadu added.
Chaudhari won the first 11 games of her first-round match before her opponent got on the scoreboard.
“I played really well, I was 6-0, 5-0 up, I wanted to finish in love and love,” she told the media
after the win. “But Riya played a good game and, it was 6-0, 6-1. Now I’m looking forward to my second-round match tomorrow.”
Like Sureshkumar, Chaudhari also has fond memories of the tournament and is hoping to create some more this year.
“This place is very special for me. I won my first title in 2022 and the second one in 2024. And whenever I come here, I always go back with the trophy. I feel really good and hopefully I create some more good memories here this year,” she added.
Meanwhile, Soha Sadiq caused the first big upset of the tournament with a 6-4, 6-1 win over No. [6] seed Jennifer Luikham in 86 minutes.
“I feel really good, I feel really positive,” Sadiq said after her win. “Jennifer is not an easy player to play against. She is very persistent and is a very good player. I am happy I won.”
The 28-year-old had been training hard in preparation for the event and was happy to see her work pay off on court on Monday. "I was training just for this tournament and I just did everything (in the match) I practiced for. This one of the biggest tournaments in India and this win is a good start for me,” she said.
Elsewhere in the men’s singles draw, third seed Nitin Sinha, sixth seed Maan Kesharwani and eighth seed Rohan Mehra all advanced to the second round. However, No. [7] seed Madhwin Kamath was knocked out by Parth Aggarwal in three sets.
In the women’s singles draw, second seed Shruti Ahlawat reached the second round with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Chevika Sama, while third seed Akanksha Nitture battled past Lakshmi Gowda 7-6, 7-6.

Suraj Prabodh, the top seed in the men’s qualifying draw, was one of eight players to come through qualifying and earn a place in the main draw. Others included 35-year-old veteran Lakshit Sood and rising juniors Aditya Mor and Prakaash Sarran, who are both among the seeded players in the Boys Under-18 singles draw, which also commenced on Monday.
In the Boys Under-18 singles draw, top seed Praneel Sharma was impressive as he defeated Ritvik Dutt 6-0, 6-0 in less than an hour. Fourth seed Om Ramesh Patel, seventh seed Parjanya Adury and No. [8] seed Kushagra Arora also won their first-round matches in straight sets.
The Girls Under-18 singles draw also got underway on Monday. The top 16 seeds received a bye into the second round. They were joined by first-round winners Riddhi Shinde, Paavani Bisht, Pooja Nagaraj and Sanidya Karantoth, among others.
UNI BM
Tags: #Manish# Vaidehee kick off Fenesta Open campaigns with straight-sets victories
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