Yasitha De Silva and Anika Seneviratne clinch the Men’s and Women’s Singles crowns at the Clay Court Nationals Tennis Tournament 2020, at the SLTA yesterday, August 29th. The tournament was the big comeback event from the long pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Photos : Men’s Semifinals – Clay Court Nationals Tennis Tournament 2020
Men’s Singles
A packed draw of 64 in the Men’s singles draw, Yasitha De Silva started as 7th seed due to lack of competition last year. Fellow Davis Cup player Sharmal Dissanayake was top rank in the draw.
De Silva had a mellow first few rounds, taking down Hasal Ahangama, veteran Rukmal Cooray, and Dumindu Dilum making his way to the Semifinals. Junior Davis Cup representative Thehan Wijemanne posed a slight threat to De Silva, but he shook it off with a straight-set win, with scores of 7/6(5), 6/2 to make his way into the final from the bottom half.
On top, surprise walkover from Dissanayake in the second round paved way for Savit Weerasinghe to start his journey to the final. Weerasinghe easily defeated coach Neshan Gunasekara and fought off Kiran Vairavanathan in 7/5, 7/6(3) tough match.
Sankha Athukorala was next in the way of his win streak but Weerasinghe did well to knock him out at 7/5, 6/3 to secure his spot in the finals.
Saturday morning, SLTA crowned their newest Men’s Champion in Yasitha De Silva as he defeated Weerasinghe in straight sets. Weerasinghe put up a fight in the second set but De Silva had none of it as he smashed his way to victory, 6/2, 7/5.
Women’s Singles
Winner of the inaugural Clay Court Nationals, Anika Seneviratne came out of the lockdown still a winner. Starting her form as the bottom seed, Seneviratne had a tough road through to the final.
She met with Oneli Perera in the first round; Winning the first set 6/2 Seneviratne found herself in a pickle when Perera leveled the playing field in the second with a 7/5 win. A super tie-breaker in the third and final set decided Seneviratne was moving on. Final scores stood at 6/2, 5/7, 10/3.
Kemalie Herath awarded Seneviratne with a walkover in the quarterfinals to take her against Neyara Weerawansa in the semis. In another three-setter, Seneviratne advanced to the final with scores 4/6, 6/3, 6/2.
Top-seeded Janali Maamperi was only able to make her way to the semifinals. Meanwhile, 4th seed Savini Jayasuriya had other plans. Jayasuriya made her way into the final over Manamperi in 4/6, 6/2, 7/5.
In the final, Seneviratne didn’t see the need to delay her victory party anymore, as she stormed her way into a straight-set victory. Final scores read 6/2, 6/1. This is Seneviratne’s 3rd consecutive win at the Clay Court Nationals!
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