Vishnu looks for a double crown in Natl grasscourt

Kolkata, Dec 21 (UNI) J Vishnu Vardhan of Andhra Pradesh was in line for a double crown at the Indian Oil Servo National Grasscourt Tennis Championship, 2007, being played at the Calcutta South Club today.

Fourth seeded Delhi boy Divij Sharan toppled the top seed and favourite Karan Rastogi 6-3, 6-3 on his way to the finals. Divij took 74 minutes to unravel the grand plans of Karan Rastogi by dominating the net most of the time.

The first set, which lasted for 34 minutes, had Divij firing four aces to a solitary one from Karan.

Though the first serve percentage of Karan was much higher at 74 per cent to Divij's 50 per cent, yet Divij's ploy of attacking the net proved good for him. He broke Karan in the fifth and ninth games to take the set 6-3.

The second set was almost a repeat of the first with a timing of 35 minutes. Divij again served four aces to Karan's two and ended the match with a 6-3,6-3 win.

The second semi final between unseeded V M Ranjeet of Tamil Nadu and sixth seeded J Vishnu Vardhan of AP lasted for 75 minutes with Vardhan coming up tops in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. In the first game of the first set Ranjeet went down 0-40 but recovered in time to take the next five points and managing to save his serve.

Ranjeen was broken in the fifth game and after that Vardhan made no mistakes and took the set at 6-4 thanks to the solitary break.

Vardhan reeled off three aces to Ranjeet's two double faults. The first set lasted 41 minutes.

In the second set Ranjeet served one double fault while Vardhan served one ace and four double faults.

The Ladies' Singles semis were one sided affairs. Top seed Rushmi Chakravarthi took 60 minutes to see unseeded Karnataka's Pooja Shree Venkatesh off. Rushmi won 6-3,6-3.

In the second semis Shalini Sahoo halted Treta's dream run white washing her in 50 minutes flat. Shalini beat Treta 6-0,6-0.

Results of matches played today Men's Singles Semi Finals : Divij Sharan (4)(Dli)(7) beat Karan Rastogi (1)(Mah)(3) 6-3,6-3; J Vishnu Vardhan (6)(AP)(11) beat V M Ranjeet (TN)(18) 6-4,6-2.

Ladies' Singles Semi Finals : Rushmi Chakravarthy (1)(TN)(4) beat Pooja Shree Venkatesh (Kar)(42) 6-3,6-3; Shalini Sahoo (8)(Dli)(19) beat Treta Bhattacharyya (WB)(35) 6-0,6-0.

Ladies' Doubles Semi Finals : Rushmi Chakravarthi (TN)&Sonal Phadke (Mah)(1) beat Anupama Rajur (Kar)&Chirasanti Rajur (Kar)(4) 6-0,1-3 (Retd).

Ladies' Doubles Finals : Geeta Manohar (Kar)&Archana Venkatraman (Kar) beat Rushmi Chakravarthi (TN)&Sonal Phadke (Mah)(1) 6-3,6-4.

UNI