Top Seeds Manish Sureshkumar, Vaidehee Chaudhari Kick Off Fenesta Open Campaigns With Straight-Sets Victories | File Pic
New Delhi, October 5, 2026: Manish Sureshkumar and Vaidehee Chaudhari, the top seeds in the men’s and women’s singles draws, respectively, kicked off their campaigns with comfortable straight-sets wins at the 31st Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship at the DLTA Complex on Monday. Sureshkumar, the defending champion, needed just 61 minutes to defeat Prasad Ingale 6-1, 6-2, while Chaudhari, a two-time former champion who missed last year’s edition due to injury, dropped just one game in a 6-0, 6-1 win over Riya Sachdeva in 56 minutes.“It was a good start. I just tried to be solid because it was the first match,” Sureshkumar said after his win. “I tried to put as many balls on the court, get the rhythm. Today’s match was more of being solid and trying to force the opponent to make an error. I think I was serving really well today. Hopefully, I can continue the momentum to the upcoming rounds.”Gunning for his third Fenesta Open title, Sureshkumar is feeling confident playing at what he described as one of his favourite venues.
“I have won this tournament twice already. Last year was pretty good. I didn’t start pretty well last year, but I was able to end it well. I have always liked playing on these courts in Delhi. This is one of my favourite venues. I feel confident playing here and that’s what I will be looking forward to,” the 27-year-old from Tamil Nadu added.
Chaudhari makes dominant startChaudhari won the first 11 games of her first-round match before her opponent got on the scoreboard.“I played really well, I was 6-0, 5-0 up, I wanted to finish in love and love,” she told the media after the win. “But Riya played a good game and it was 6-0, 6-1. Now I’m looking forward to my second-round match tomorrow.”Like Sureshkumar, Chaudhari also has fond memories of the tournament and is hoping to create some more this year.“This place is very special for me. I won my first title in 2022 and the second one in 2024. And whenever I come here, I always go back with the trophy. I feel really good and hopefully I create some more good memories here this year,” she added.Sadiq causes first big upsetMeanwhile, Soha Sadiq caused the first big upset of the tournament with a 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 6 seed Jennifer Luikham in 86 minutes.“I feel really good, I feel really positive,” Sadiq said after her win. “Jennifer is not an easy player to play against. She is very persistent and is a very good player. I am happy I won.”The 28-year-old had been training hard in preparation for the event and was happy to see her work pay off on court on Monday. “I was training just for this tournament and I just did everything (in the match) I practised for. This is one of the biggest tournaments in India and this win is a good start for me,” she said.Seeds advance in singles drawsElsewhere in the men’s singles draw, third seed Nitin Sinha, sixth seed Maan Kesharwani and eighth seed Rohan Mehra all advanced to the second round. However, No. 7 seed Madhwin Kamath was knocked out by Parth Aggarwal in three sets.In the women’s singles draw, second seed Shruti Ahlawat reached the second round with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Chevika Sama, while third seed Akanksha Nitture battled past Lakshmi Gowda 7-6, 7-6.Suraj Prabodh, the top seed in the men’s qualifying draw, was one of eight players to come through qualifying and earn a place in the main draw. Others included 35-year-old veteran Lakshit Sood and rising juniors Aditya Mor and Prakaash Sarran, who are both among the seeded players in the Boys Under-18 singles draw, which also commenced on Monday.Junior draws get underwayIn the Boys Under-18 singles draw, top seed Praneel Sharma was impressive as he defeated Ritvik Dutt 6-0, 6-0 in less than an hour. Fourth seed Om Ramesh Patel, seventh seed Parjanya Adury and No. 8 seed Kushagra Arora also won their first-round matches in straight sets.The Girls Under-18 singles draw also got underway on Monday. The top 16 seeds received a bye into the second round. They were joined by first-round winners Riddhi Shinde, Paavani Bisht, Pooja Nagaraj and Sanidya Karantoth, among others.Results at the time of writing with some matches of the day still underway and to be completedMen’s Singles First Round (Round of 32) ResultsManish Sureshkumar [1] (TN) def. Prasad Ingale (MH) 6-1, 6-2Nitin Sinha [3] (WB) def. K Suresh (TN) 6-2, 6-2Maan Kesharwani [6] (UP) def. Vansh Bisht (DL) 6-4, 6-4Parth Aggarwal (DL) def. Madhwin Kamath [7] (GJ) 7-5, 1-6, 6-2Rohan Mehra [8] (DL) def. A Senthilkumar (TN) 6-3, 5-7, 6-2Pranav Karthik (TN) def. Suhith Lanka (TG) 6-4, 6-4Debasis Sahoo (OD) def. Irfan Husain (TN) 7-5, 7-6Men’s Singles Final Round Qualifying ResultsSuraj R Prabodh [1] (KA) def. Aditya Satpathy (OD) 6-2, 6-1Lakshit Sood (UP) def. Sandesh D Kurale [2] (MH) 6-3, 6-4Rohith Gobinath [3] (TN) def. Prajwal Tewari (MH) 6-4, 6-2Sunil Malik [9] (HR) def. Mayand Tewary [5] (WB) 6-7, 6-2, 10-5Aditya Mor [6] (HR) def. G Kothapalli (KA) 6-1, 1-0 (retd.)Jagmeet Singh [8] (HR) def. Chandan Shivaraj (KA) 6-3, 7-6D Vennapusa [13] (TG) def. Srikar Doni (KA) 7-6, 4-6, 11-9Prakaash Sarran (KA) def. M Kudumala (KA) 7-5, 6-1Women’s Singles First Round (Round of 32) ResultsVaidehi Chaudhari [1] def. Riya Sachdeva 6-0, 6-1Shruti Ahlawat [2] def. Chevika Sama 6-4, 6-0Akanksha Nitture [3] def. Lakshmi Gowda 7-6, 7-6Soha Sadiq def. Jennifer Luikham [6] 6-4, 6-1Akansha Ghosh def. Divya Bhardwaj 6-4, 6-2Saily Thakkar def. Pooja Ingale 6-3, 6-3Yubrani Banerjee def. Hasini Davunaboina 6-1, 6-0Boys U18 First Round (Round of 64) ResultsPraneel Sharma [1] def. Ritvik Dutt 6-0, 6-0Om Ramesh Patel [4] def. Gyansh Manchanda 6-2, 6-0Parjanya Adury [7] def. Gaurish Madaan 6-0, 6-4Kushagra Arora [8] def. Aritra Sasmal 6-3, 6-0Sharan Somasi [11] def. Chandra Kopparapu 6-1, 6-3Veer Jiten Madam def. Yaj Malik [14] 6-1, 6-1Yashwin Dahiya [15] def. Ryan Mehta 6-2, 6-0Lakshya Chukka [16] def. Lakshay Drall 6-0, 6-2C Yale def. Rehaan Theodore 6-4, 6-4Sarthak Gaikwad def. Ahaan Khanna 4-6, 6-3, 6-1Tejas Ravi def. Nithik Sivakumar 6-3, 6-4Anay Pandey def. Raunak Gilra 6-2, 7-5Sangram Bhadury def. Harsh Nandal 6-2, 6-1Mehul Jothish def. Ashwin Kabilan 7-5, 6-3Aryaveer Sharma def. Gurrshan Mehta 6-1, 7-5Rishi Yadav def. Arnav Bhuyan 6-3, 6-2Srikar Doni def. Aksh Jood 6-1, 6-3Girls U18 First Round (Round of 64) ResultsRiddhi Shinde def. Zoha Qureshi 6-2, 6-1Paavani Bisht def. Ruhin Kaushal 6-2, 6-0Pooja Nagaraj def. Vrandika Raput 6-1, 6-3Sanidya Karantoth def. Mahi Raulji 6-0, 6-3Mehul Malik def. Dyuti Jain 7-5, 6-1Anjhalle Meka def. Aafreen Rahil 6-0, 6-4Diya Chaudhary def. Vani Bansal 6-1, 6-0Aniha Gavinolla def. Sanmitha Harini 4-6, 6-1, 6-3Harsha Oruganti def. Sherry Sharma 6-1, 6-2Tejaswi Manneni def. Chanchal Malik 6-1, 6-0Iha Joshi def. Aarnavi Tomar 6-1, 6-0Miraya Agrawal def. Mehr Muralidass 6-1, 6-0Manvi Gupta def. Anarva Shyamraj 6-1, 6-0Thatiparthy Hemaza def. Rathi Manvi 6-1, 6-3About Fenesta Open National Tennis ChampionshipThe Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship is supported by DCM Shriram Ltd. and held under the aegis of the All India Tennis Association and Delhi Lawn Tennis Association. The Championship provides a national competitive platform for players across senior and junior categories and has played an important role in identifying and encouraging emerging Indian tennis talent.About Fenesta Building SystemsFenesta is India’s largest windows and doors brand and part of the ₹14,264 crore DCM Shriram Ltd. Its installations span 5,00,000+ homes and have crossed the 5 million mark. Built for India’s extremes, Fenesta pioneered uPVC windows and doors engineered for tough climate conditions. The portfolio now includes ultra-luxury aluminium systems, solid panel doors, facades, partitions & enclosures, and a growing hardware range.Headquartered in Gurgaon, Fenesta operates through 400+ dealers and nine Signature Studios, servicing 900+ cities, with international presence in the Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Ghana, and Kenya. Fenesta provides a customized end-to-end solution—survey, design, manufacture, delivery, installation, and service—synchronized to project timelines.About DCM Shriram Ltd.DCM Shriram Ltd. is a diversified and integrated business group with a strong presence across Agri-Rural Businesses, Chemicals & Vinyl, and Building Material Products. The Company operates manufacturing facilities across India and continues to focus on value-chain integration, operational excellence, sustainability and long-term growth.www.dcmshriram.com