This is 19-year-old Shruti’s first ITF women’s tour title

Shruti Ahlawat held her nerve to beat Poland’s Zuzanna Kolonus 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (3) and win the HCL ITF $15,000 women’s tennis tournament at the DLTA courts here on Sunday.

The sixth-seeded Shruti Ahlawat rose to the occasion on crucial points to clinch the tie-break in the deciding set. Unleashing powerful groundstrokes, she displayed consistency throughout the week and defeated several tough opponents.

She upset top seed Zeel Desai in the quarterfinals and followed it up with a victory over promising Jensi Kanabar — the 14-year Australian Open Under-14 champion who had enjoyed a fine run to reach her first ITF women’s tour singles semifinal.

The 19-year-old Shruti, who trains under former player Ashutosh Singh, had reached the semifinals of the W15 event in Panipat last week and carried that momentum to claim her first ITF Tour title.

The doubles title was won by top seeds Ksenia Laskutova and Ekaterina Yashina, who defeated second seeds Arina Arifullina and Michika Ozeki 6-4, 6-3.
EOM