Bhopal, Nov 30 (IANS) Digvijay Pratap Singh replicated his recent success at the ITF M25 Tennis Tournament in Bhopal, edging past academy-mate Nitin Kumar Sinha 6-4, 7-6 in a tightly contested final. The win gives both tennis players a near-flawless momentum as they move to Gwalior for the next event on the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour ($15k), where they will look to carry this form.

A day after Roundglass Tennis Academy’s Praneel Sharma defeated fellow trainee Aashravya Mehra to clinch the ITF Juniors J100 singles title in Delhi, the academy produced another champion; this time on the pro circuit.

In addition to his impressive singles run, Nitin also fought his way to the doubles final at the same tournament, only to be denied the title in a razor-thin contest. Teaming up with SD Prajwal Dev, he pushed the pairing of Aryan Shah and Atharva Sharma to the brink before the duo eventually went down 6-1, 4-6, 6-10.

Currently ranked No.23 in the country, Digvijay opened his campaign with a gritty three-set win over the Netherlands’ Freek van Donselaar, before shifting gears to dispatch compatriot Kabir Hans 6-2, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, he staged an impressive comeback after dropping the first set, eventually overcoming Rohan Mehra 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. His semifinal against Siddhant Banthia ended prematurely, with Banthia forced to retire midway through the first set as Digvijay led 3-1.

Sunday’s final marked only the second meeting between Digvijay and Nitin on the pro circuit; Nitin had won their first encounter in Delhi back in 2021. This time, however, Digvijay held the edge.

The eighth-seeded Nitin had stitched together a remarkable run of his own. He survived a tough second-round battle against Roundglass Tennis Academy’s Arjun Rathi, clawing back from a set down in a tightly fought contest. He then produced one of the standout performances of the tournament, defeating third seed Grigoriy Lomakin of Kazakhstan in straight sets to reach the last four.

His semifinal brought an all-too-familiar opponent: doubles partner and top seed S D Prajwal Dev. As expected, the clash went the distance, with Nitin showing admirable composure in the defining moments to prevail 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Both Nitin and Digvijay train at the Roundglass Tennis Academy in Chandigarh under renowned coach Aditya Sachdeva, who expressed his delight at the result.

“With our juniors sweeping the singles and doubles titles in Delhi earlier this week, this result in Bhopal adds another layer of confidence to the work being done at the Roundglass Tennis Academy,” Sachdeva, the Technical Director at the Roundglass Tennis Academy, said.

“Success across the spectrum — from juniors to men — reflects that our process works. This is just the beginning, and we will look to build an even more robust system going forward.”

The duo will return to action on December 2 in the opening round of the Roundglass ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour in Gwalior, with Hitesh Chauhan – India’s top-ranked junior player – also joining them in the main draw.

–IANS

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