Tennis: Double delight forKirrtane

Former Davis Cupper and second seeded Nitten Kirrtane won his second consecutive singles title on the Indian Men’s Circuit outplaying top seed Ketan Dhumal to lift the DES-Fergusson Cup-Men’s All India Ranking Tennis Tournament organised by the Deccan Education Society which concluded at the Fergusson College Tennis courts. In the final,Kirrtane,who turned 36 on Thursda, defeated his hard-hitting opponent 6-2,6-0 in just 1 hour to win the title. The left-hander also lifted the doubles crown along with his cousin Sandeep,ending a memorable week.

Kirrtane started the game well and raced to a 4-1 lead,riding on the Ketan Dhumal’s numerous unforced errors.

Kirrtane played his game patiently returning some impossible balls and using backhand slices to negate the hard serving Dhumal’s serve to wrap up the set 6-2.

In the second set,Kirrtane broke Dhumal in the 2nd game after 10 deuces,this tilted the match in his favour. Dhumal never recovered after the break. Kirrtan held his serve breaking Dhumal again in the 7th game.

This allowed Kirrtane to go on top and finish the match in style and prove that he is unbeatable by the new generation.

Kirrtane received 15 AITA points and Rs 5,000 for his effort while Dhumal received Rs 3,500 and 10 AITA points.