New Delhi, Oct 13 (IANS) Top seed Deepthi Venkatesan suffered a shock defeat in the Girls’ U-16 singles event at the 31st Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi on Tuesday, losing in straight sets to Unnathi Muralidhar.

Muralidhar, who hails from Karnataka, needed just 1 hour and 11 minutes to defeat Venkatesan 6-2, 6-2 and advance to the third round.

“It was really a good match; it was actually tough for me to play against the top seed,” Muralidhar said after the win. “It was really a good experience; I had my coach with me, so it was an advantage. It’s really good to be here and play at the Fenesta Open; this is my first time playing here, so it’s really good.”

Second seed Tanusshri Sathesh and third seed Aaradhya Meena cruised into the third round, dropping just three games between them. However, fourth seed Aashi Kashyap and sixth seed Harsha Oruganti were both knocked out of the competition in three sets.

Ribhav Saroha, who won the Boys’ U-18 singles title last week, stayed on course for a double by advancing to the third round of the Boys’ U-16 event. Saroha needed just 1 hour and 22 minutes to defeat Rhunmaan Mahesh 6-2, 6-2.

Saroha was joined in the third round by second seed Lakshya Chukka and third seed Paranjay Swiach, while fifth seed Divey Malk was upset in three sets by Parthiv Nallagundla.

Elsewhere, top seed Aarav Challani registered a comfortable 6-1, 6-1 victory over Rajishnu Poptani to reach the third round in the Boys’ U-14 event.

“It was definitely a good match,” Challani said after the victory. “My opponent put up a good fight. It was better than the score suggests. I am happy with the way I played this match.”

Challani added that he has his eyes on the title but is not thinking too far ahead for now. “Pressure is a privilege. I am happy to be the top seed and be one of the favourites for the tournament. I have had my eyes on this title for a long time, but it’s very early to say now.”

Second seed Puneeth Manohar led a group of nine seeded players who won their opening-round matches in the Boys’ U-14 event.

Meanwhile, top seed Sarena Gahlot, second seed Siddhi Pandey and third seed Zoha Qureshi were among the players who won their second-round matches in the Girls’ U-14 event.

“It was a great match against Janvi Sawant,” Gahlot said after her win. “She played really well. The score was 6-2, 6-1. I also played really well in the first set. It was a tough match, but I played good and was able to win it.”

Results:

Boys’ U16 Singles Second Round (Round of 32):

Ribhav Saroha (1) def. Rhunmaan Mahesh 6-2, 6-2

Lakshya Chukka (2) def. Aarav Patel 6-1, 6-2

Paranjay Siwach (3) def. Tanish Dasari 6-4, 7-5

Parthiv Nallagundla def. Divey Malik (5) 7-6 (7-2), 6-0

Yaj Malik (6) def. Hemdev Mahesh 7-6 (7-3), 6-4

Jeevith Sathish (7) def. Ashwin Kabilan 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-2

Yashwin Dahiya def. Ishaayu Desai (9) 6-0, 6-2

Harsh Marwaha def. Rishi Yadav (11) 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-3

Monodip Dey (12) def. Arnav Bhuyan 7-6 (7-5), 6-3

Gyansh Manchanda (13) def. Atharv Anand 5-7, 6-0, 6-4

Kaustubh Singh (14) def. Lakshay Drall 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

Anay Pandey (16) def. Aarav Mulay 6-3, 6-2

Kushagra Arora def. Chandra Kopparapu 6-2, 7-5

Aaryan Kirrtane def. Sujai Pothula 6-1, 6-1

Vivaan Mirdha def. Viraj Jarwal 6-0, 6-0

Vishwak Gunampally def. Sarvadnya Sarode 6-3, 6-4

Girls’ U16 Singles Second Round (Round of 32):

Unnathi Muralidhar def. Deepthi Venkatesan (1) 6-2, 6-2

Tanusshri Sathesh (2) def. Sanidya Karantoth 6-1, 6-1

Aaradhya Meena (3) def. N. Krishnaprabhu 6-0, 6-1

Rishita Yadav def. Aashi Kashyap (4) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

Aahida Singh def. Harsha Oruganti (6) 3-6, 6-2, 6-0

Ranjhana Sangram (7) def. Tejaswi Manneni 4-6, 6-4, 6-3

Sanmitha Harini (8) def. Manvi Gupta 6-3, 6-0

Zoha Qureshi (9) def. Sana Varadhamani 6-0, 6-0

Vrandika Rajput (11) def. Rabiah Dullet 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

Ilaiyanila Kannan (12) def. Mehul Malik 6-4, 4-6, 6-1

Khushi Kadian (14) def. Aniha Gavinolla 6-4, 6-4

Sidhhi Pandey (15) def. Sarithra Entoori 6-2, 6-1

A Brahadeeswaran def. Ruhin Kaushal (16) 6-2, 6-2

Pooja Nagaraj def. Sarena Gahlot 6-4, 6-3

Shravee Deore def. Budhya Khushi 6-2, 6-2

Boys’ U14 Singles Second Round (Round of 32):

Aarav Chhallani I1) def. Rajishnu Poptani 6-1, 6-1

Boys U14 Singles First Round (Round of 64):

Puneeth Manohar (2) def. Kabir Gundecha 6-1, 6-0

Nibras Hussain (3) def. Zaayn Mohammad 6-3, 6-0

Pranav Gaikwad (6) def. Ranveer Gawli 6-1, 6-4

Vishwak Gunampally (7) def. Rabeeb Ali Khan 6-2, 6-1

Adeshbir Ghuman (8) def. Kahaan Bhuva 6-1, 6-1

Sujai Pothula (9) def. Viraj Jarwal 6-2, 6-1

Vir Chattur (11) def. Tegveer Singh 6-3, 6-2

Devansh Kamboj (12) def. Sri Myneni 6-2, 3-6, 10-7

Soham Ransubhe (16) def. Ebinesh Suresh 6-2, 1-6, 10-8

Tejas Singh def. Daiwik Mann 6-2, 6-2

Vishnu Pandey def. Aksh Bora 6-0, 6-1

Manav Patel def. Kanishk Kanishk 6-2, 6-1

Shaurya Gadade def. Devansh Kumar 6-3, 6-0

Laqshya Tripathi def. Dhaiwik Arunkumar 4-6, 7-5, 10-8

Bhavik Garg def. K Vihaan Reddy 6-1, 6-0

Harsha Pudi def. Luv Pardeshi 6-1, 6-4

Hariharan Mahamuni def. Aarav Shah 3-6, 6-2, 10-8

Archan Pathak def. Hridayansh Pal 6-0, 6-1

Girls’ U14 Singles Second Round (Round of 32):

Sarena Gahlot (1) def. Janhavi Sawant 6-2, 6-2

Sidhhi Pandey (2) def. Aaradhya Singh 6-4, 6-3

Zoha Qureshi (3) def. Sara Fengse 6-3, 6-2

Khushi Kadian (5) def. Shaurya Patil 6-2, 6-1

Saanvi Mohan def. Myra Shaikh (7) 6-4, 6-2

Purvi Patwa (8) def. Asmi Pitre 6-0, 6-1

Trisha Bhosale (9) def. Avni Arora 6-2, 6-2

Aaradhana Tehlan (10) def. Raima Chavan 6-1, 6-2

Aaral Vashishta def. Vaidehi Shinde (11) 6-1, 6-0

Kristi Haloi def. Falak Mehta (12), 6-3, 6-3

Aneeksha Gavinolla (13) def. Shubhi Sharma 7-5, 6-4

Atharva Peram def. Mrigakshee Changmai (14) 6-3, 6-1

Rishita Yadav def. Aditri Singh (15) 6-1, 6-2

–IANS

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