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Laxmisiri Dandu bagged a dream double while Aradhya Kshitij clinched the biggest crown of his fledgling career as the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior 2023 J30 Bengaluru tournament concluded here on Saturday (September 9).

In the girls’ final held at court 2 of the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA), sixth-seeded Laxmisiri beat Karnataka’s third-seed Amodini Naik 7-5, 6-3 to clinch her maiden ITF title.

Earlier, the Hyderabad girl had teamed up with Durganshi Kumar in the doubles where they were given the top billing. The top-seeded duo beat fourth seeds Aanya Choubey/Saumya Ronde 6-3, 3-6, 10-4.

In the boys’ final, Aradhya came back fighting after losing the first set to beat giant-killer Chandan Shivaraj (who had earlier stunned top seed Sehaj Singh Pawar in the semifinals) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 for a breakthrough win in the ITF Junior circuit.

The winner of the J30 (Under-18) tournament, took home 30 ITF ranking points while the runner-up had to contend with 18.

Laxmisiri, who trains at Sania Mirza’s academy in Hyderabad carried far too many guns for Amodini in the final. The Telangana girl started badly though and twice lost her serve as Amodini was leading 4-2.

However, Amodini, who trains at the Sarjapua-based Sol Tennis Academy in Bengaluru, lost the momentum and saw her serves being broken back-to-back. A wrist injury she picked up prior to the start of the tournament did not help Amodini’s cause either.

Lamxmisiri, who had recently made it to the semifinals of the AITA National U-18 series in her home town, came down all guns blazing as Amodini pressed the panic button.

After clinching the first set, Laxmisiri upped the ante in the second in which Amodini was nowhere in the reckoning and it ended in a double delight for the 16-year-old.

“Happy to win my first ITF title. This win will help me prepare well for the upcoming ITF World Tour event in Tashkent. That being a J100 event, which carries more ranking points, I’m keenly looking forward to it,” said an elated Laxmisiri.

The boys’ final which was played on KSLTA centre courts was a much more close-fought affair with the battle between the two baseliners proving to be an absorbing one.

Just 14, Aradhya was playing a final of this magnitude for the first time. But he never showed any signs of nerves and excelled with his strong baseline game.

After losing the first set, Aradhya, whose current ITF Junior ranking is 1364, came back strongly to win the second and in the decider, he kept his cool to emerge triumphant.

“It just can’t get bigger than this,” said Aradhya, who also trains at the Sol Tennis Academy.

Results (all finals) (prefix denotes seedings)

Singles

Boys

Aradhya Kshitij bt Chandan Shivaraj 1-6, 6-3, 6-4

Girls

6-Laxmisrii Dandu bt 3-Amodini Naik 7-5, 6-3

Doubles

Boys

4-Gandharv Gourav Kothapalli/Sriniketh Kannan bt Daksh Kukreti/Kashit Nagrale 4-6, 7-5, 11-9

Girls

1-Laxmisree Dandu/Durganshi Kumar bt 4-Aanya Choubey/Saumya Ronde 6-3, 3-6, 10-4