Sri Lankans Kevin Markandarajah and Sanjeev Mohan Kumar proved too tough for Telangana players as both of them contested the final of the TSTA Master Series tennis tournament played at the St Thomas High School in Neredmet, Hyderabad. Local players Santosh Kullai and Kanuganti Rawal failed to get past the semifinal stage of the tournament. Kevin outlasted Santosh with an 8-3 verdict. To Santosh’s surprise Kevin was too strong to deal with, both in defence as well as attack. He restricted Santosh by not giving enough chances to score points as he emerged winner and confirmed his berth in the final.
Meanwhile, in another semifinal, Sri Lanka’s Sanjeev beat Rawal with a 8-2 scoreline. It was a comfortable victory for Sanjeev as his opponent couldn’t score much. Well before Sanjeev stepped up the attack his rival succumbed, making it easier for him to seal the win. In the final against Kevin, Sanjeev took a headstart going 2-0, 3-1 and continued to accelerate till 7-2 before Kevin rallied with some heavy topspin from the baseline to push his rival on to the backfoot. Kevin and Sanjeev playing for the first time on red clay worked up good rythm and played an aggressive baseline game. Kevin served 15-40 in the 14th game and saved 2 match points but Sanjeev got better to take the game, match and championship at 8-6.
The results
Final: Sanjeev Mohan Kumar (Sri Lanka) bt Kevin Markandarajah (Sri Lanka) 8-6.
Semifinals: Kevin Markandarajah (SriLanka) bt Santosh Kullai 8-3; Sanjeev Mohan Kumar (SriLanka) bt Kanuganti Rawal 8-2.
