tennis Tennis

Pranjala wins second successive title

Y. Pranjala.

Y. Pranjala.  

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Y. Pranjala beat top seed Conny Perrin of Switzerland 6-1, 7-6(2) in the final to clinch her second successive title in the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament here on Saturday.

The 19-year-old Pranjala had beaten the same opponent, the 142nd-ranked Conny Perrin in the final last week, in three sets. In fact, in winning ten matches on the trot over a fortnight in singles, as she had opted to skip doubles, Pranjala had dropped only one set. This was the third singles title of professional circuit for the 449th-ranked Pranjala.

Meanwhile, Leander Paes, in partnership with Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela of Mexico, made the doubles final with a 6-4, 7-6(3) victory over Tomas Lipovsek Puches and Juan Ignacio Londero of Argentina in the $150,000 Challenger tennis tournament in Dominican Republic.

The second-seeded Indo-Mexican pair was scheduled to meet Ariel Behar of Uruguay and Roberto Quiroz of Ecuador in the final.

In the € 64,000 Challenger in Italy, Purav Raja, in partnership with Antonio Sancic of Croatia, beat the second seeds Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies of Germany 7-5, 7-6(2) in the semifinals.

In the ITF men’s Futures final in Hua Hin, second seed Manish Sureshkumar was beaten in three sets by Ajeet Rai of New Zealand.

The results:

$150,000 Challenger men, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Doubles (semifnals): Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (Mex) & Leander Paes bt Tomas Lipovsek Puches & Juan Ignacio londero (Arg) 6-4, 7-6(3).

€64,000 Challenger men, Ortisei, Italy: Doubles (semifinals): Antonio Sancic (Cro) & Purav Raja bt Kevin Krawietz & Andreas Mies (Ger) 7-5, 7-6(2).

$15,000 ITF men, Hua Hin, Thailand (final): Ajeet Rai (Nzl) bt Manish Sureshkumar 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

$25,000 ITF women, Lagos, Nigeria (final): Y. Pranjala bt Conny Perrin (Sui) 6-1, 7-6(2); Semifinals: Conny Perrin (Sui) bt Riya Bhatia 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 6-4; Y. Pranjala bt Julia Terziyska (Bul) 6-2, 6-3.