Unseeded Norwegian Rana Roop Singh Bhullar claimed the ITF juniors boys’ singles title with a 6-3, 7-6(2) victory over fourth seed Aryan Goveas here on Saturday. The girls’ title was won by Jennifer Luikham after she fought off Nandini Sharma 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.
Bhullar played a clinical first set, breaking in the second game and from then on holding serve with ease. His flat and powerful groundstrokes pegged Aryan back and the best the fourth seed could do was play catch-up. Any attempt to hit his way out of trouble often ended with the balls sailing long.
Bhullar then took a 2-0 lead in the second set and seemed to have slammed the door shut. But a slight lapse let Aryan back into the match. After levelling it at 2-2, when Bhullar was serving at 4-5, Aryan was within two points of the set. However, unforced errors on crucial points meant he squandered the chance to take the match to a decider.
The set was finally decided on a tie-break with Bhullar taking it 7-2.
Meanwhile, the girls’ final went the distance. Nandini’s excellent defensive game forced the third seed Jennifer to expend every bit of energy to find a way out. The match was dominated by long rallies and each of the three sets was a struggle, in spite of the scoreline suggesting otherwise.
The results (Indians unless specified): Final: Boys: Rana Roop Singh Bhullar (Nor) bt Aryan Goveas 6-3, 7-6(2).
Girls: Jennifer Luikham bt Nandini Sharma 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.
