The Hindu : Manoj Mahadevan lifts men's crown

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 31, 2002

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Sport - Tennis

Manoj Mahadevan lifts men's crown

By Amitabha Das Sharma

Manoj Mahadevan and Sai Jayalakshmi, both of Tamil Nadu, display their trophies after winning the singles men's and women's titles respectively, at the senior National grass court tennis tournament in Kolkata on Saturday. — Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

KOLKATA MARCH 30. Tamil Nadu contributed two new champions — Manoj Mahadevan and J. Sai Jayalakshmy — who strode the scene on the final day of the Indian Oil-Servo senior National grasscourt tennis championship at the South Club's centre court here on Saturday. Mahadevan lifted the men's crown, while Jayalakshmy made it a grand double annexing the doubles title to the singles event she won defeating top seed Radhika Tulpule of Maharashtra.

Former India camper Nitin Kirtane partnered Saurav Panja of Bengal to lift the men's doubles crown for the fourth time as a team.

The premier national event, despite missing a few top names from the national ranking showcased quite a few close encounters, which saw the exit of the fancied to have two new faces emerging in the final outcome.

Sai Jayalakshmy, with her consistency and temperament, clearly emerged the best among all women in the tournament and the double crown was the just rewards for her brilliant performance. The singles final put third seeded Jayalakshmy against top seeded Tulpule, in a repeat of the title clash that had the latter winning in a protracted three setter in 2000.

The match on Saturday presented the Chennai player on a far reformed persona as she thoroughly outplayed her opponent from Pune before exacting a sweet revenge of her early loss. Jayalakshmy took just sixty minutes to win the match recording a 6-0, 6-4 scoreline, which spoke of the lopsided contest where Jayalakshmy ruled completely.

Tulpule looked sluggish from the start and her movement lacked the rhythm that would help the former champion reply to challenge posed by the aspiring titlist.

The first set was a total washout as Jayalakshmy broke Tulpule in the first, third and fifth games to win it 6-0. Jayalakshmy's strength emanated chiefly from her accuracy that was reflected in the high rate of success with her first-serves. She also laced her strong baseline play with confident approach to the net as and when required.

Jayalakshmy continued in the same strain in the second set and broke Tulpule in the first and fifth games to lead 5-1. Tulpule appeared to conjure a delayed dash of energy just as Jayalakshmy prepared to serve for the match. The Pune lass halted here opponent's marauding march winning a break back in the eighth game. But the effort seemed to come a bit too late as Jayalakshmy, still up a break, made no mistake with service in the 10th game and ensured the title.

Jayalakshmy next paired with Tulpule to beat the Karnataka-Maharashtra combine of Sheetal Gautam and Liza Pereira in the women's doubles final later in the day.

The men's singles final saw a more absorbing contest as the sixth seeded Mahadevan took on the challenge of the giant-killer Sunil Kumar Sipaeya. Sunil Kumar, playing his first senior grasscourt tournament, was the favourite having consumed a host of seeds including the top seeded Rohan Bopanna of Maharashtra on his way to the final. On the other hand, Mahadevan maintained a relatively low profile as he struggled his way to the top.

Mahadevan made little errors as served strongly and was equally efficient with approach shots that earned him crucial points while pinning his opponent to the baseline. The first set went with the serves till the eighth game before Mahadevan broke Sunil Kumar for a crucial 5-4 lead and then wrapped up the set winning his service in the 10th game. The second set saw Mahadevan winning an early break as Sunil Kumar double faulted while down 30-40 to lose the third game. But the Chandigarh left-hander showed character and resolve as he broke back Mahadevan in the eighth game and then repeated the feat in the 10th game to level the issue.

In the decider Sunil Kumar appeared to be on the receiving end as he survived three break points in the first game before managing to hold his service. The set went with the serves till the 10th game before Mahadevan fine-tuned his net charge and back-hand slice to produce a series of winners to break Sunil Kumar in the 11th game. Having gained the advantage, Mahadevan kept his calm and held his service next to triumph in the two-hour long battle.

In the men's doubles final, the top seeded pair of Bopanna and Vijay Kannan (Tamil Nadu) won the first set breaking Saurav Panja in the 10th game. The second set Kannan lost his service in the third game but Panja let go the initiative as he lost his service in the eight game to force a tie-breaker. The Kirtane-Panja combine did make any mistakes to win the tie-breaker 7-4 and level the score. In the third set Bopanna served three consecutive double faults to give an early 2-0 lead to Panja and Kirtane, who preserved the advantage well to ensure the title.

The results:

Men's singles: 6-Manoj Mahadevan (TN) bt Sunil Kumar Sipaeya (Chd) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Doubles: 1-Rohan Bopanna (Mah) & Vijay Kannan (TN) lost to 2-Nitin Kirtane (Mah) & Saurav Panja (Ben) 6-4, 6-7(4-7), 3-6.

Women's singles: 1-Radhika Tulpule (Mah) lost to 3-Sai Jayalakshmy (TN) 0-6, 4-6.

Doubles: 1-Sai Jayalakshmy (TN) & Radhika Tulpule (Mah) bt 2-Sheetal Gautam (Kar) & Liza Pereira (Mah) 6-2, 6-3.

Grand double for Jayalakshmy

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