Wednesday, Oct 23, 2002 - HT Correspondent

Shantanu Dhaka, an NRI based in Boston, came here for the DSCL Open Nationals with hope, but no hype.

He had to come through the grind of qualifiers last week and the 17-year-old on Tuesday showed he has the heart and the game to rough it out as he defeated Nishank Mishra 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in the men's singles first round.

A day earlier, Shantanu had won his first match in the under-18 boys as well, but the win on Tuesday did attract attention. At first sight it is clear from his style of play he has learnt the basics abroad.

And when he said after the match that he had attended the Hilton Head programme in the US under the tutelage of Stan Smith, it became clear Shantanu does have pedigree.

Delhi boy Nishank was the odds on favourite -- familiar with the surroundings and conditions - but he was troubled by high viral fever. And though he hung in well for three sets, Shantanu pulled away in the end with his smooth strokes. "I am coming to India after almost nine years and virtually had no expectations from this tournament," said Shantanu.
He has just finished school and decided to take the year of to see "where he stands" on the circuit. And to be in India and win a few matches has done a lot for confidence. "I shall be playing the ITF Futures as well," added Shantanu, who is very comfortable with his groundstrokes on the synthetic surface.

Meanwhile, Nishank's elder brother Shivang lost in straight sets to Saurav Panja in a match where the former just had no rhythm with his usually potent serve. If Shantanu typifies the juniors wanting to make a mark for themselves, then Jacco T.Mathew showed how not to go about it, losing tamely to 31-year-old Indian Oil officer Vasudeva Reddy.
Vasu, as he is popularly known on the circuit, has left his best years behind. Serving big used to come naturally to him when he was flirting with inclusion in the Davis Cup squad seven years back. Today, the Hyderabadi has to stretch his back to get those hard serves in. But what stood out was his control from the back court.

"I was surprised Jacco was in such a hurry to finish points off. He just showed no patience," said Vasu. These words, coming as it were from the mouth of one who himself used to be in a hurry to get through with his matches in yesteryears, was a message for Jacco.

Among other prominent winners in the men's section were defending champion Vijay Kannan and Parantap Chaturvedi.

RESULTS (1st round):

Men: Saurav Panja b Shivang Mishra 6-2, 6-3; Parantap Chaturvedi b Vijendraa Laad 6-4, 6-4; Kamala Kannan b R.Pallivella 6-2, 6-1; Vinod Sridhar b A.Wakalker 6-4, 6-3; Vijay Kannan b Anjan Viplav 6-4, 6-3; Vasudeva reddy b Jaco T.Mathew 6-1, 6-4; Mustafa Ghouse b R.Chitlangia 6-1, 6-2; Shantanu Dhaka b Nishank Mishra 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

Boys: Somdev Devvarman b Abhay Prakash 6-2, 5-7, 6-3; Inder Kumar b J.Jayanth 6-1, 4-6, 6-3; Sujoy Reddy b G.Samarth 6-4, 7-6 (7/2); Tushar Liberhan b D.Bhusari 7-6 (13/11), 6-2; Amanjot Singh b S.Gulati 6-2, 6-0; Wrik Ganguly b Nehal Advani 6-0, 6-3; Divij Sharan b Anand Kumar 6-3, 6-4; Chatwinder Singh b Vivek Shokeen 6-1, 6-3.

Women: Isha Chopra b Preeti Rao 6-4, 5-7, 6-1; Poonam Reddy b M.Kamini 6-2, 3-6, 7-5; Sonal Phadke b Sandra Sashidharan 6-1, 6-0; Lisa Pereira b Iciri Rai 6-3, 6-3.

Girls: Lata Asudani b Medhini Sharma 6-2, 6-1; A. Alice b V.Shivshankar 6-2, 6-1; R.Prekh b Ragini Vimal 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.