Fenesta Open to feature eight national top-15 players

The 31st Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship will feature eight AITA national top-15 players, led by two-time champion Vaidehee Chaudhari and defending men's champion Manish Sureshkumar. The tournament will be held at New Delhi's DLTA Complex from October 5 to 17

Hyderabad: India No. 3 and two-time champion Vaidehee Chaudhari and defending men’s champion Manish Sureshkumar will lead a field featuring eight players ranked in the AITA national top 15 at the 31st Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship, to be held at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi from October 5 to 17.

Chaudhari will chase her third women’s singles crown after winning the title in 2022 and 2024, while Sureshkumar returns to defend his 2025 title. Shruti Ahlawat adds to the women’s challenge after winning her maiden ITF $15,000 title at the same venue in May, defeating Poland’s Zuzanna Kolonus in the final.

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Speaking ahead of the championship, Ajay S Shriram, Chairman and Senior Managing Director, and Vikram Shriram, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, DCM Shriram Ltd, said, “For over three decades, the Fenesta Open has supported Indian tennis at the grassroots, providing a strong competitive platform that challenges players and tests their abilities against talent from across the country. As we enter the 31st edition, our focus remains on raising the standard of competition and giving emerging players the experience they need to progress to higher levels of the sport.”

The men’s field includes four national top-15 players: Sureshkumar (IR 8), No. 10 Nitin Kumar Sinha (IR 10), Aditya Balsekar (IR 11) and Udit Kamboj (IR 13).

The women’s field features four national top-10 players, with Ahlawat ranked seventh, Sonal Paygonda Patil (IR 9) and Akanksha Nitture (IR 10) joining Chaudhari, according to the latest ranking list updated on July 27, 2026.

The junior field includes Delhi’s Praneel Sharma, Karnataka’s Prakaash Sarran, Gujarat’s Om Patel and Haryana’s Harsh Malik in the boys’ competition.

Tamil Nadu’s Savitha Bhubaneshwaran, Maharashtra’s Parthsarthi Mundhe and Swanika Roy, and Karnataka’s Shreeniti Chowdhury will feature in the girls’ competition.

A total of 324 matches are scheduled across the championship.

The Under-18 boys’ and girls’ events will kick off the championship, with qualifying on October 3-4, main rounds beginning October 8 and finals on October 10. The Under-16 and Under-14 events will follow, with qualifying on October 10-11 and main rounds starting October 12. Quarter-finals are scheduled for October 15, semi-finals for October 16 and finals for October 17.