Third seed Nitin Kumar Sinha pulled off a major upset at the 31st Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship on Friday, 9 October, defeating top seed and defending champion Manish Sureshkumar in a gruelling three-set semifinal at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi. The scoreline read 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-1 in Sinha's favour, setting up a men's singles final against sixth seed Maan Kesharwani on Saturday.

Sinha's Marathon Comeback Against His Own Doubles Partner

The match had an unusual subtext: Sinha and Sureshkumar had been doubles partners all week. Despite that camaraderie, there was no shortage of intensity on court. Sureshkumar, last year's champion, edged the opening set in a tiebreak, seemingly on course to defend his title. But Sinha refused to yield, raising his level dramatically over the next two sets.

'It was a very long match, and it was very intense,' Sinha said after the win. 'I just wanted to stay in it and see how it goes, and it became very physical. I am really happy with the way I fought and played the match.'

The result is one of the bigger upsets of this year's tournament, with the top seed eliminated before the final for the first time since the previous edition.

Doubles Rivals by Day, Champions by Night

In a remarkable turnaround, Sinha and Sureshkumar set aside their singles rivalry and returned to court in the evening to claim the men's doubles title, defeating Rohith Gobinath and Srikar Doni 6-3, 6-2.

'It was a very good match. I think both of us were very exhausted after the singles in the morning. We're happy that we found some energy and it was fun playing with Nitin this week,' Sureshkumar said. 'It's good to carry the winning momentum. Hopefully, we can play in some other tournaments in the future.'

The ability to compartmentalise rivalry and partnership in the same day underlined the professional maturity of both players.

Kesharwani Books Final Berth With Straight-Sets Win

Sixth seed Maan Kesharwani secured his place in the men's singles final with a composed 6-3, 7-5 victory over unseeded Suraj Prabodh. Kesharwani credited focused play in key moments for the result.

'The first set looked easy, but it was intense for me,' Kesharwani admitted. 'The second set, I was a little bit tired, but I made it. At 5-all, I broke him, and then I won the match. I will try to recover well, eat well, and try to sleep well and just be ready for tomorrow.'

Vaidehee Chaudhari and Shruti Ahlawat Set Up All-India Women's Final

The women's draw produced its own compelling matchups. Two-time former champion and top seed Vaidehee Chaudhari needed 69 minutes to dismiss fourth seed Sonal Patil 6-3, 6-1, while second seed Shruti Ahlawat was even more clinical, beating Soha Sadiq 6-0, 6-1 in 61 minutes.

Ahlawat, who has faced Chaudhari on multiple occasions, sounded measured ahead of the final. 'I've played her quite a few times now, and I was quite aware of what she was going to do and how I had to play,' she said. 'I'm just going to treat it as any other match. I'll just play my match and see how it is.'

Doubles Titles and Junior Results

In women's doubles, Lakshmi Arunkumar and Samhitha Chamarthi claimed the title with a hard-fought 5-7, 6-1, 10-5 win over Aishwarya Jadhav and Aakruti Sonkusare.

The day's longest contest came in the boys' U-18 singles, where fourth seed Om Ramesh Patel battled for 3 hours and 16 minutes to overcome 15th seed Yashwin Dahiya 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 7-5. Patel will face 10th seed Ribhav Saroha in Saturday's final. In the boys' U-18 doubles, top seeds Praneel Sharma and Aditya Mor lifted the title with a 6-2, 6-1 win. Third seeds Sanmitha Harini and Savitha Bhuvaneswaran claimed the girls' U-18 doubles crown, defeating fourth seeds Sree Syleswari Velmanikandan and Riddhi Shinde 6-4, 7-5.

With all men's and women's singles finals set for Saturday, the 31st Fenesta Open concludes a dramatic week of domestic tennis at the DLTA.