Solanki in last eight of national tennis

Alex Solanki used his strong forehand to good effect as he defeated fifth seed Anvit Bendre to enter the men's singles quarterfinals of the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championships here on Wednesday.

At 16 years of age, Solanki came out with a creditable performance to reach the last eight of the senior category on the hard courts of the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) complex.

Top seed Sriram Balji continued to hold sway on another hot day as he toyed with Suresh Gokul and won 6-1, 6-2. The young man from Chennai has got used to the pace of the courts as he has played five days over here since the qualifying stage.

Seasoned V.M. Ranjeet looked in good touch as he toppled Nitin K. Sinha 6-0, 6-3 while defending champion Vishnu Vardhan beat Vilasier Khate 6-4, 6-2.

In women's singles, there were no major surprises with Snehadevi Reddy, Prerna Bhambri and Delhi's Shweta Rana underlining their dominance.

Snehadevi had the measure of Samriti Punyani, winning 6-2, 6-3 while Shweta defeated M. Aarthi 6-3, 6-3. Defending champion Prerna Bhambri had an easy 6-1, 6-1 win against Vaidehi Chaudhari. Other winners in the women's section included Riya Bhatia and Pranjala Yadlapalli.