Prerna, Mohit win National Tennis titles (Roundup)

Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash and Prerna Bhambri won the men's and women's singles titles at the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championships here Saturday.

Top seed Mohit lived up to his top billing by beating last year's runner-up Arjun Khade 6-3, 6-1 in one hour and seven minutes while defending champion Prerna Bhambri upset top seed Shweta Rana 7-5, 6-2 in two hours and five minutes in an all-Delhi clash at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) Complex.

It has been an outstanding week for Chennai boy Mohit, who is returning from a six-month injury lay-off. He suffered from a slip disc earlier this year.

It was an easy outing for Mohit, who won his first national crown after last year losing to Arjun in the quarter-finals. The Chennai lad broke Arjun early in the opening set. Although Arjun tried coming back into the match, the top seed thwarted his challenge.

Mohit was completely in control in the second set once Arjun was broken. He capitalised on the break point chances and extended his lead, taking the second set in no time. Mohit was aggressive and kept approaching the net regularly.

"It was a good tournament for me. I lost to Arjun in the juniors in 2011 and in the quarter-finals last year, so wanted to win this one badly. I know his game well as we have been playing since the U-12 days, plus we also play doubles together so I was able to strategise," Mohit, who also won the doubles title with Arjun Friday, told IANS.

Earlier, Prerna successfully defended her title defeating top seed Shweta to win her third national title. She had also won the Under-18 title in 2009.

It has been an excellent week for Prerna, who has not dropped a single set in the tournament and dominated her opponents throughout. Shweta has been in good form too, but on the given day, the defending champion came out on top.

"It was a tough match. I think Shweta played pretty well. It feels good to defend my title. I played freely throughout the tournament and I was prepared for it. I will play a couple of tournaments in Pune and Mumbai in the next two months. Winning this title is motivating for me," said Prerna.

Final results:

Women's singles: Prerna Bhambri bt Shweta Rana 7-5, 6-2

Men's singles: Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash bt Arjun Kadhe 6-3, 6-1

Men's U-18 singles: Hardeep S. Sandhu bt Mukund Sasikumar 7-6(3), 6-4

Women's U-18 singles: C. Sai Samhitha bt Simran Sethi 5-7, 6-3, 6-2